Career & Technical Education Blog

Since March 2020, teachers and students have continued to feel the dramatic impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on primary and secondary schools across the U.S. With issues like learning loss and the need for increased access to technology you may be looking for funding opportunities to help your students get back on track and equip your classroom for any challenge.

As a CTE educator, you may have heard that your school uses Perkins funding to pay for curriculum expenses. But what exactly is Perkins funding? Where does it come from, and who gets to use it?

As part of its response to the coronavirus pandemic, the federal government provided a total of $280 billion for K–12 and postsecondary schools over three rounds of unprecedented investment into education. For perspective, $280 billion is 200 times the annual allocation for Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V). The Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER I, II, III) portion of each of the three emergency response bills totaled $189 billion for a range of uses from education technology to building costs and staff salaries. While states and districts were given wide discretion on how to invest the money, there are time limits for the money to be spent.

EdTech tools help us meet the needs of our students in creative and fascinating ways. From hardware to software and online programs, there are vast options to use technology to engross students in their learning experiences. However, the cost connected with these opportunities is sometimes outside of the campus and district budget. There are many other ways to fund edtech tools for your classroom without using your hard-earned dollars. Below are three ways to fund edtech tools for your classroom.

During the fall semester, student programs across the country typically host various fundraisers to support their programs and activities. While community members want to support local programs, social distancing guidelines and economic disruption has impacted school fundraisers over the last year.