Through the COVID Relief Act of 2021, $81.88 billion was allocated to the US Department of Education (USED) for the Education Stabilization fund. After a small set aside of this total, 5% of the remaining funds were to be used to make supplemental Governor's Emergency Education Relief (GEER II) Funds grants. This emergency block grant empowers Governors to decide how best to meet the current needs of students, schools (including charter schools and non-public schools), post-secondary institutions, and other education-related organizations in their State so that faculty continue to teach and students continue to learn. Governors are encouraged to focus these resources on ensuring that all students continue to learn most likely through some form of remote learning.

Grant funds awarded under the Governor's Emergency Education Relief Fund may be used to—

1. provide emergency support through grants to local educational agencies that the State educational agency deems have been most significantly impacted by coronavirus to support the ability of such local educational agencies to continue to provide educational services to their students and to support the on-going functionality of the local educational agency; 
2. provide emergency support through grants to institutions of higher education serving students within the State that the Governor determines have been most significantly impacted by coronavirus to support the ability of such institutions to continue to provide educational services and support the on-going functionality of the institution; and
3. provide support to any other institution of higher education, local educational agency, or education-related entity within the State that the Governor deems essential for carrying out emergency educational services to students for authorized activities described in section 18003(d)(1) of the CARES Act or the Higher Education Act, the provision of child care and early childhood education, social and emotional support, and the protection of education-related jobs.

Further, GEER II funds shall not be used to —

• provide direct or indirect financial assistance to scholarship-granting organizations or related entities for elementary or secondary education; or
• provide or support vouchers, tuition tax credit programs, education savings accounts, scholarships, scholarship programs, or tuition-assistance programs for elementary or secondary education.

Note: From the total GEER II funding available, the ED Secretary shall reserve $2,750,000,000 to also provide Emergency Assistance to Non-Public Schools grants (GEER EANS). Unlike with GEER funding provided under the CARES act, LEA sub-awardees are not required to provide equitable services to non-public schools under GEER II. For more information, please request the Grants Office grant summary for your state's GEER EANS program for non-public schools.