In today’s classroom, technology has become a huge component of the curriculum for teachers and students. School districts are racing to keep up with lightning speed of changing technologies while also dealing with decreasing budgets. Over the past several years education technology funding has decreased significantly. Programs like Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) have been dismantled and other technology programs have been scaled back. Unfortunately, these grants that focus on math, science, and technology provided support to programs that are absolutely essential to a student’s education and will greatly impact their future success.

The Department of Education recently announced the 23 highest rated applicants for the Investing in Innovation Fund. With over 600 applicants and $150 million in funding in 2011, this was a highly anticipated competition. Awaiting a private match that was to be fulfilled by December 9th 2011, applicants ranging from school districts to nonprofits in partnership with districts or a consortium of schools would receive funding under either Scale up, Validation or Development awards. The partnership that appeared to stand out the most to reviewers were the nonprofit partnered with an LEA. They accounted for 10 of the 23 highest rated applicants. On the other end, the smallest amount of awards went to a nonprofit partnered with a consortium of schools, with 6 of the 23 highest rated applicants.

With what seems like a never-ending saga of budget cuts, organizations across the country continue to seek out alternative sources of funding such as grants from different government sources or private foundations. Many of these requests, perhaps unsurprisingly, tend to be for basic operating expenses, salaries, or equipment such as new computers or technology. Even as more organizations line up to compete for grants for basic purposes, funders are actually seeking much more comprehensive projects beyond these kinds of requests.

By Christopher Haight
October 2011

The expansion of broadband to rural schools is a critical step in eliminating the digital divide and ensuring students have access to the tools of the 21st century. Most importantly for students and educators alike, access to broadband internet services creates new opportunities and methods for increasing student achievement.

Devising and implementing a national broadband policy has been a notable priority for the Obama administration. Since including over $7 billion for the expansion of broadband in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Obama administration has worked primarily through the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to achieve this goal.

The education funding landscape continues to evolve, especially at the Federal level where the final 2011 budget deal resulted in the elimination of many highly-anticipated grant programs. Popular programs such as Smaller Learning Communities, Enhancing Education Through Technology, Improving Literacy Through School Libraries, and Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools will not be offered this year. Other programs, such as the Teaching American History Grant, will only be available for continuation awards (meaning no new grant applications will be funded).

As a part of the final deal on FY2011 appropriations, Congress afforded Race to the Top an additional $700 million. While this is a steep drop from its initial $4 billion investment under the Recovery Act, it still represents a significant win for the Obama administration as it seeks to sustain one of its signature grant programs and education reform initiatives.

Regina Renaldi is the Executive Director of Priority Programs at St. Vrain Valley School District in Colorado. St. Vrain received the highest scoring application in the Investing in Innovation (i3) grant competition. Ms. Renaldi was generous enough to sit down and discuss with us the i3 grant and St. Vrain's grantseeking in general. This is our conversation.

While Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 and FY2012 budget talks will likely continue to dominate the political psyche for the foreseeable future, other important legislative endeavors remain alive - albeit in a much more latent way. Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) has been a standing priority for the Obama administration, as it remains an area of possible bipartisan achievement.

President Obama's second State of the Union speech may have easily been titled "Investing in Innovation," borrowing from one of his signature education reform grant programs funded under the Recovery Act. Throughout this speech to the U.S. Congress and nation, Obama emphasized the imperative to support innovation for the health of the U.S. economy and future welfare of the country. While the speech was short on specific policy items or legislative goals, Obama made clear broad priorities going forward, including energy, education, and infrastructure.

Of the two bills signed into law that enacted the historic health care reform effort under President Obama, the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 features one of the least cited yet critically important grant opportunities since the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).

A crucial factor in providing a first-rate 21st century education for our students is to ensure they have access to 21st century technologies. While technology is certainly no panacea to the education conundrums confronting the United States, it is becoming ever more important that students today know how to use technology effectively as they progress through higher levels of academia and into the workforce.

Despite growing up in a truly Digital Generation fed by Wi-fi access, smart phones, and iPods, U.S. students are falling alarmingly behind in the same academic and professional fields that created such ubiquitous modern-day necessities. In mid-September, the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and the National Science Board (NSB) released reports calling for renewed attention to how the United States attracts and educates students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, or more popularly referred to as STEM.

Like most components of the $787 billion Recovery Act passed into law in 2009, the $4.35 billion Race to the Top grant program often receives notice as "unprecedented" for its sheer size. With nearly every state in the U.S. facing a budget deficit or outright fiscal crisis, the billions for education funding represent a critically important source to keep local school districts afloat.

With most schools officially on summer vacation, now is the perfect time for developing projects and mapping out a grant strategy for the coming months. As many grant programs for educational institutions involve significant collaboration, the summer months can provide time for creating relationships and beginning dialogue with potential grant partners.

While the initial excitement of the Recovery Act may be decreasing, unparalleled levels of funding will continue to flow to schools across the country over the next several months under Recovery Act programs. On March 29th, Delaware and Tennessee were announced as the first two awardees under the much anticipated Race to the Top program. Approximately $4 billion will be distributed directly to states to drive education reform and states will be reapplying under the Phase 2 deadline of June 1, 2010.