Highlights / Opportunity

Raising the Bar Across America: 

Education Department Releases State Fact Sheets Detailing Biden-Harris Administration Investments in America’s Students, Schools, and Colleges 

• Raising the Bar Across America: State by State Fact Sheets

  • WISCONSIN

Since day one of their Administration, President Biden and Vice President Harris have made fighting for public education a top priority – and they have delivered, with unprecedented investments in our nation’s public schools, colleges, and universities. Thanks to President Biden’s and Vice President Harris’s leadership, schools and campuses across America reopened safely from COVID-19, and with continued support, they are making a strong recovery – helping students succeed and be prepared for a bright future in a global economy.

Today, as the U.S. Department of Education (Department) wraps up its week-long “Fighting for Public Education” Back to School Bus Tour, it is releasing 52 fact sheets, detailing the specific actions and investments the Biden-Harris Administration has taken to strengthen schools, colleges, and universities and invest in students across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, and the impact of those investments delivering results for students, families, and communities. The fact sheets illustrate, in concrete terms, how the Biden-Harris Administration’s Raise the Bar: Lead the World initiative is at work in our communities, bolstering educational experiences for students with historic levels of federal funding, championing public education, and delivering results for families. These fact sheets can be found here.

 “Public education is the foundation of opportunity and social mobility in this country, and I could not be prouder of the Biden-Harris Administration’s historic investments in public education in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “These 52 fact sheets show tangible ways our investments have raised the bar for students and schools in every part of our country. Together, we have swiftly and safely reopened schools after a pandemic, helped students accelerate their academic achievement, supported student mental health, and built new pathways to brighter careers and futures. Fighting unapologetically for public education gets real results. 

The 2024 Back to School Bus Tour featured stops in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. This year’s theme, "Fighting for Public Education," highlights how school communities are using the Biden-Harris Administration’s historic investments in public education to implement evidence-based, promising and innovative strategies and accelerate academic success, to support students of all ages and backgrounds. The 2024 Bus Tour celebrates public education as the American system that opened the door for so many of our nation’s success stories: from astronauts to astrophysicists, writers to engineers, musicians to mathematicians, innovative entrepreneurs in the private sector to great leaders in the public sector.

The Biden-Harris Administration’s historic investments in PreK-12 and higher education include:

Securing the largest-ever federal education investment and helping nearly 100,000 public schools reopen strong and recover academically. Investments include:

• $130 billion in American Rescue Plan aid across America to address academic, mental, and physical health impacts of COVID-19 on children.

• $60 billion to help rural, urban, and suburban schools support about 27 million high-need students – a $2 billion increase in Title I funding under the Biden-Harris Administration.

• $53 billion to support special education and related services for 7.5 million students with disabilities in America – a $1.5 billion increase in IDEA Part B funding under the Biden-Harris Administration.

• $7.6 billion in career, technical, and adult education, helping connect students to high-quality career learning and workforce development opportunities – a $628 million increase under the Biden-Harris Administration.

• $3 billion to expand high-quality language instruction for over 5 million English learners in America – a $95 million increase in Title III funding under the Biden-Harris Administration.

Tackling the youth mental health crisis, addressing gun violence, and improving climate across America’s schools. Investments include:

• $1 billion for school-based mental health professionals, to directly respond to the mental health needs of young people by preparing a projected 14,000 additional mental health professionals to serve America’s schools.

• $1 billion to help schools reduce gun violence, create safe and welcoming school environments, and address youth mental health needs through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the most significant new gun violence prevention law in nearly 30 years.

• $253 million to create over 2,000 new full-service community schools in the country, providing crucial supports to serve more than 1 million students’ physical, mental health, and academic needs.

• $5 billion invested in Title IV, Part A funding for schools to create inclusive learning environments and provide a well-rounded education.

Strengthening and expanding teacher educator pipelines, including for underrepresented teachers. Investments include:

• Under the Biden-Harris Administration:

• Average teacher pay is projected to have increased 9.5% through school year 2023-24.

• There are now registered apprenticeship programs for teachers approved in 38 states, D.C., and Puerto Rico.

• Federal investments have helped create more than 643,000 education jobs.

• $8.6 billion invested to help bolster educator recruitment, retention, and professional learning for America’s 3 million teachers through Title II-A funding.

• $895 million awarded in competitive grants to recruit and develop highly qualified educators, and support affordable, comprehensive, high-quality pathways into teaching, and help schools address the needs of all learners – including multilingual learners and students with disabilities.

• $23 million in first-ever funding to the Augustus F. Hawkins Centers of Excellence Program to increase the number of teachers of color and multilingual educators across the country. 

Fighting for college affordability, postsecondary success, and career pathways. Investments include:

• Securing $7,395 for the maximum Pell Grant, including the largest increase to the maximum award ($900) in the last decade – with Pell Grant aid reaching more than 6 million students with more than $31 billion in aid across America.

• $39 billion in American Rescue Plan aid to over 5,000 American colleges and universities to safely reopen from the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure students have additional financial aid and support.

• $5.3 billion for American colleges and universities, nonprofits, and community organizations to increase college access and success for low-income and first-generation students, and students with disabilities through federal TRIO programs and GEAR UP programs.

• $3.3 billion to build capacity at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, Tribal Colleges and Universities, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions, Asian American- and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions, Predominately Black Institutions and Native American-Serving Nontribal Institutions.

• $222 million to meet students’ basic needs and reduce non-academic barriers to college success through the Child Care Access Means Parents In School program and Fund for the Improvement of Post Secondary Education (FIPSE) Basic Needs programs.

• $14 billion in vocational rehabilitation to expand services and employment services for individuals with disabilities.

Delivering student debt relief to student loan borrowers. Including:

• Approving $170 billion in relief for nearly 5 million borrowers.

• Fixing the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and providing over $69 billion in relief for about 946,000 borrowers. By comparison only 7,000 borrowers had received relief through this program at the start of the Administration.

Figures reflect aggregate investments made by the Department over federal Fiscal Years (FY) 2021 through FY 2024. Additional funding will continue to be disbursed by the Department in the weeks ahead as the Department concludes grant awards in FY 2024 and begins making new grants in FY 2025.

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Rural Schools Collaborative

2024-25 Grants in Place Fellows: Now Accepting Applications

• Calling rural educators! Apply today for the 2024-25 Grants in Place Fellows Program.

• The Grants in Place Fellows Program:

  Each Fellow will receive a total award of up to $2,500 for the Place-Based Education project. The Fellows cohort will conclude with a virtual Celebration of Learning, culminating a final presentation of all Place-Based Education projects.

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BEAD Letter of Intent Due October 1 

The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program will award funding to expand high-speed internet access in unserved and underserved locations in Wisconsin. The BEAD program allocates over $1 billion in funding to build broadband infrastructure.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

LOI submissions are now being accepted, and are due no later than October 1, 2024, at 1:30 pm C.T. The Commission has published instructions that detail the questions and the requirements of the LOI and provides step-by-step instructions for completing all sections of the BEAD LOI application. We encourage eligible entities to submit their LOI as soon as possible prior to the due date in order to facilitate any additional needed information or corrections.

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