Murphy Calls On The Department of Education To Give Connecticut Guidance On Recovery Bill Funds

Press Release

As school districts across Connecticut write their budgets for next year, Congressman Chris Murphy (CT-5) wrote a letter to the Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan to ask that he quickly issue guidance concerning how education funding from the economic recovery law will flow to school districts across Connecticut's Fifth District.

"Connecticut doesn't have the luxury of time to wait for information on how to use this funding. In order to maximize the effectiveness of this law, we have to act quickly to give the state and towns the guidance necessary to use this funding so that kids get the maximum benefit," said Murphy.

Since the recovery law was passed by the House of Representatives, Murphy and his staff have reached out to superintendents, chairs of boards of education, and parents to provide information about how the bill will help school districts. While he and his staff have been able to answer many of the questions asked, Murphy wrote to Secretary Duncan to request that he issues "detailed, clear, and timely directive to states, towns, and local education agencies (LEAs) about how money for programs administered by the Department of Education, such as the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, Title I-A, and IDEA, allocated under the new law can and should be used."

"The budget process for the next school year is well under way. I know that timely information from the Department will be invaluable as states and towns work to avoid the cuts that the recovery law means to circumvent," wrote Murphy.

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