The Federal Department of Education determined that the nearly $ 390 million allocated to Education deparment and the Governor’s Office through the federal economic stimulus law – known as the Cares law – to invest in primary and secondary schools will not be released until the external entity that will supervise the use of federal funds comes into play. the educational agency.
Thus, the $ 349 million assigned to the Puerto Rican Department of Education and the $ 47.8 million that would be for the discretionary use of the governor Wanda Vázquez Garced they would join the roughly $ 650 million in federal money that has been frozen since the agency was required last year to hire an entity to oversee the use of appropriations by the US government.
The Cares money is intended to assist in managing the disruption of educational services due to the coronavirus pandemic and the transition to distance education. Altogether, Puerto Rico would receive about $ 740 million for schools, universities, and postsecondary institutions.
In a letter sent to Federal Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, the governor urged the functionary to reconsider the position reported by the Office of Risk Management Services.
“Although Congress intended these funds to provide immediate relief to students and schools during this global pandemic, we are being denied immediate access to these funds. This delay in access to financing is contrary to the spirit and intention of the Cares law, which was drafted to provide the greatest immediate impact and, therefore, I urge you to reconsider this determination.“Said Vázquez Garced.
Here you can read the letter:
Letter to Ed’s secretary … by The new day on Scribd
Last summer, Federal Education instructed the local agency to contract an external entity (“third-party fiduciary agent”) to be in charge of monitoring the good use of the money that is annually assigned to Puerto Rico. The directive came after the arrest of former Secretary of Education Julia Keleher and several contractors for an alleged fraud scheme, as well as several indications about the use of funds intended for recovery after the passage of Hurricane Maria.
The Secretary of Education, Eligio Hernández, announced in April the selection of the consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) as the external entity that will oversee the use of the agency’s federal funds. However, the conditions for hiring are still being negotiated.
The pandemic, the governor said, has delayed the work of the Department of Education to comply with the conditions imposed by the federal government to be able to use the allocated funds since last fiscal year.
Vázquez Garced said that the Department of Education plans to use the funds allocated through the Cares law for the acquisition of computers that allow distance education, the purchase of cleaning materials, provide training for teachers, and guarantee quality instruction for students with disabilities. Likewise, the president stressed that La Fortaleza would allocate funds to “improve” the strategies to meet the educational and health needs of students and educational personnel.
The first executive acknowledged that, after the cancellation of face-to-face classes in public schools in mid-March, not all students have had access to the necessary resources to be able to study at a distance. In the past few months, Education has not been able to detail how many students were actually able to continue their distance studies.
“This decision makes Puerto Rico the only SEA (state educational agency) in the nation that does not have access to these emergency funds at a time when access to funds is critical for Puerto Rico. Students in Puerto Rico have suffered two hurricanes, have seen their schools collapse due to a series of earthquakes, and have now experienced the anxiety and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, “said the first executive.
“Our children should not suffer more,” he added.
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