$44 million has been allocated from the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund to improve blended learning instruction in Colorado

To improve blended learning instruction in Colorado, $44 million has been allocated from the $30.8 billion federal CARES Act relief bill.  The funds will be allocated to school districts, schools, HE and also the Colorado Empowered Learning initiative.  The Covid-19 pandemic has heightened the educational inequalities that exist in Colorado with rural areas being particularly affected.

The money will be allocated as follows:

Equity and Innovation Fund: $33 million

It is hoping that this share of the funds will address the economic, social and health impacts of Covid-19 via innovation and reforming systems.

Colorado Empowered Learning: $5-6 million

This is the online learning support program funded by Colorado State.  The money will fund bringing more teachers to the platform and to provide training so those teachers can confidently deliver blended learning courses.  Over 100 districts currently participate in the program and students can choose between over 200 online courses which cost approximately $135 each.

Teacher Recruitment: $3 million

This will help address the shortage of teachers and in particular remote locations.

Higher Ed Students

The remaining amount will help any Higher Ed students not receiving support from other federal programs.

“ Even before the coronavirus, we knew our education system was plagued by inequality…Those inequalities have been worsened by the coronavirus… ” Jared Polis, Governor, Colorado

As part of a separate funding program, the CARES Act will also provide funding for preschool ($41 million), K-12 ($121 million) and HE ($144 million).

“ We are grateful to our federal partners for providing flexible funding that we can utilize to support Colorado students from preschool to higher education, increase capacity in rural areas, and invest in innovative approaches to improving student learning that can be replicated and scaled for years to come… ” Jared Polis, Governor, Colorado

More information on the Colorado blended learning instruction initiative can be accessed here: https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cel