Gov. John Bel Edwards is using much of the $50
million in discretionary education aid awarded
to Louisiana to help with the coronavirus
response to buy computers and expand internet
access for public school students.
The Democratic governor has agreed to spend
$32 million for the effort to bridge the digital
divide at K-12 schools. Another $15 million will
go to higher education, with two-thirds of that
money paying to accelerate training for students
to get them to work.
Louisiana’s governor received $50 million from
the federal CARES Act to divvy up among K-12
schools, colleges and universities. That money
is on top of $287 million directly sent to public
schools and $147 million sent to colleges and
universities earlier this year.
The Advocate reports the governor said as he
sought input from a wide range of stakeholders,
it became evident the best use of the dollars
would involve addressing the shortage of
devicesandconnectivity.LOUISIANA AID PAYING FOR STUDENT COMPUTERS, INTERNET ACCESS
Image: Gerald Herbert