Federal education allocates $ 125 million to Puerto Rico to go to schools during the coronavirus pandemic

Washington DC The United States Department of Education has allocated an additional $ 125 million to help schools in Puerto Rico reopen and manage the education system during the coronavirus pandemic.

The money is in addition to the $ 1.32 billion announced last week by now former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and will be administered by the governor’s office. Pedro Pierluisi.

To distance himself from the act of revolt against Congress at the initiative of President Donald Trump, DeVos announced Friday the allocation of resources, which also come from the most recent economic stimulus law, passed in December just hours before he left office. agreement was reached last year.

According to the Resident Commissioner in Washington, Jenniffer GonzálezThe $ 125 million that the Governors Office will manage will fund the cleaning of educational facilities, the purchase of personal protective equipment, the installation of ventilation systems, and training and professional development of teachers on safety practices during the coronavirus pandemic.

González announced today that the funds will also fund barriers to implement physical distance, coronavirus diagnostic tests and contact tracking. They will also help fund the cost of educational technology needed during the pandemic, the redevelopment of instructional plans, and the ability to rent additional space to ensure physical distance.

Last week, the now-former secretary DeVos indicated that the initially allocated $ 1.32 billion could be used to “measure student progress, identify students who have fallen behind, and provide them with differentiated instructional and learning resources.”

Under the Cares Act, the economic stimulus statute passed in March 2020, the Puerto Rico Department of Education received $ 349 million, which it was supposed to claim for dropouts, at a time when the U.S. government ordered the hiring of a trustee to manage most federal funds.

Initially, the Federal Department of Education had determined that this $ 349 million could not be used pending the trustee’s recruitment.

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