Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund

In 2020, Congress set aside approximately $3 billion of the $30.75 billion allotted to the Education Stabilization Fund through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act for the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund (GEER) Fund.  The Department awarded these grants ­to States (Governor’s offices) based on a formula stipulated in the legislation: (1) 60% on the basis of the State’s relative population of individuals aged 5 through 24. (2) 40% on the basis of the State’s relative number of children counted under section 1124(c) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA).

The Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) Act, 2021, was signed into law on December 27, 2020, and provided an additional $4,053,060,000 for the GEER Fund. The CRRSA Act provides that $1,303,060,000 of those funds be used to supplement the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund (GEER II Fund) awarded to each State with an approved GEER application under the CARES Act enacted on March 27, 2020.

Secretary DeVos Letter to Chief State School Officers  

On July 1, 2020, the U.S. Department of Education (Department) published an Interim Final Rule (IFR) regarding equitable services under the CARES Act. (The rule is available at: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-07-01/pdf/2020-14224.pdf). On September 4, 2020, in NAACP v. DeVos, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued an opinion and an order vacating the IFR. Accordingly, the IFR is no longer in effect.