Education Secretary announces Puerto Rico to receive nearly $4B in US pandemic funds

Puerto Rico to receive nearly $4B in US pandemic funds SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said Monday that Puerto Rico will receive nearly $4 billion in federal education pandemic relief funds to help boost the U.S. territory’s fight against COVID-19. AP NEWS

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said Monday that Puerto Rico will receive nearly $4 billion in federal education pandemic relief funds to help boost the U.S. territory’s fight against COVID-19.

The announcement was made during Cardona’s official three-day trip to Puerto Rico, the first for a Biden administration Cabinet member. It marks the first time the island has full access to those funds.

“The students of Puerto Rico have suffered enough,” he said. “It’s time to get back to school safely and quickly.”

Roughly half of the nearly $4 billion will be released as part of the American Rescue Plan Act, which was signed into law in March to help offset the pandemic’s impact on the economy and public health.

Puerto Rico reopened dozens of public and private schools in March for the first time since the pandemic began, although less than 100 of the island’s more than 850 public schools were authorized to do so. At the time, only kindergarteners, special education students and children in first, second, third and 12th grades were allowed to return to school for in-person classes twice a week. A month later, officials closed all schools given a spike in COVID-19 cases and didn’t reopen some of them until May. ...

It wasn’t immediately known exactly how Pierluisi’s administration planned to spend the newest federal funds. The announcement comes three months after Cardona announced that Puerto Rico had immediate access to $912 million in federal education money....