Amata Welcomes $45.6 Million In CARES Act Education Funds

Statement

Thursday, Congresswoman Aumua Amata is welcoming $45.6 million in CARES Act federal funds supporting education in American Samoa through the Education Stabilization Fund.

The CARES Act's aid includes the Education Stabilization Fund, which provides $30.75 billion nationally to support K-12 and higher education systems in the coming months.

This fund includes a combined amount of approximately $154 million for the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands, which is to be distributed to these four insular areas on the basis of their respective needs as determined by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.

That process awards American Samoa $45,594,123 for education through the CARES Act. This total is in two programs, $7,272,191 for the Governor's Emergency Education Relief (GEER) program, and $38,321,932 under the Elementary and Secondary School Education Relief (ESSER) Fund for State Education Agencies (SEA).
Thank you to President Trump and Secretary DeVos," continued Congresswoman Amata. "We look forward to a future with this pandemic behind us and our schools as busy as ever. Until then, we can keep working to pull through this time together."

The amounts each state receive vary widely according to the share of Title I and Pell Grant students that attend school in each state.

With a larger population than the other island territories, Puerto Rico, along with the District of Columbia, was considered separately under the formula along with the 50 states.

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