DOE Approves Virginia’s Application for Flexibility in Federal Education Funds
April 7, 2020
The U.S. Department of Education granted preliminary approval to “Virginia’s request for waivers from provisions of the Every Student Succeeds Act and the General Education Provisions Act that govern how and when federal education funds must be spent by states and local school districts.” Without this approval, Virginia schools “would have had to return millions of dollars in federal funding—most of it supporting programs serving vulnerable students” that they weren’t able to spend due to COVID-19 school closures, according to Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction James Lane. The additional flexibility will allow Virginia schools and the state education department to “shift federal resources” in order to “expand distance-learning opportunities for all students.”