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Education Stabilization Fund Call for Ideas

Colorado State Board of Education

Overview

Education Stabilization Fund: Rethink K-12 Education Models Discretionary Grant Program Call for Ideas

The Colorado State Board of Education (SBE), through the Commissioner of Education, submitted a Letter of Intent to apply for the U.S. Department of Education’s Education Stabilization Fund- Rethink K-12 Education Models Discretionary Grant Program. This program was created through Congress’s set aside of 1% of the $30.75 billion allotted to the Education Stabilization Fund through the CARES Act for grants to states with the highest coronavirus burden.

The Department will make these grants available to states most affected by coronavirus through two separate grant competitions.

One of the grants, the Education Stabilization Fund-Rethink K12 Education Models Grants (ESF-REM Grants), provides support to state educational agencies (SEAs) in states with the highest coronavirus burden to address specific educational needs of students, their parents, and teachers in public and non-public elementary and secondary schools in accordance with section 18001(a)(3) of the CARES Act.

The State Board of Education (SBE) is now issuing this Call for Ideas from the Colorado Education Community that are aligned with Absolute Priority 3: Field-Initiated Projects for Educational Models for Remote Learning to Improve Student Outcomes. Applications that propose projects that demonstrate a rationale and that are designed to create, develop, implement, replicate, or take to scale field-initiated educational models for remote learning will be considered. Projects should address specific needs pertaining to accessing high-quality remote learning opportunities.

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Materials to Submit

The State Board of Education requests idea proposals from the Colorado education community that align closely with the federal grant proposal requirements to include:

  • A 2-3 page description of the approach to addressing absolute priority #3. The description should include an implementation plan and timeline for key grant activities.
  • A one-page plan for how to assess the number of students served and parent satisfaction with the state’s grant-related remote learning offerings; and the number and different types of new remote learning options provided in order to address the performance measures for the grant.
  • A two-page analysis of the immediate needs in the state to support remote learning and describe how the proposed idea will address those needs. Information about district needs can be found in the Needs Inventory.
  • A one-page budget narrative - that describes general project costs and needs to implement the ideas. [note: Colorado Department of Education (CDE) will need to adjust the budget to allow for project management, procurement and other needed activities].

Materials should include the name of the individual/organization submitting the idea on the cover page only. The SBE will conduct a blind review of the ideas. Please do not include the individual/organization name on additional materials.

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Timeline

Submissions Due by June 12

Materials Reviewed by June 18

  • The SBE will review materials and vote on an idea to use for submission at a special meeting sometime between June 15 and June 18, 2020. Notification of the meeting will be posted here and we will email anyone who submits as well.

CDE Will Submit Idea by June 29

  • CDE will work to build out the idea and submit the application, along with a letter of support from the governor, to the U.S. Department of Education by June 29, 2020.

Applicants Notified of Awards in August

  • The U.S. Department of Education expects to notify applicants of awards in August 2020.

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Important Notes

  • The U.S. Department of Education is expecting to award 13-14 grants for a range of $5M-$20M, for use over 3-5 years.
  • The U.S. Department of Education has ranked states for priority for the grant, based on four factors. Currently, Colorado is ranked in the bottom 20th percentile of states.
  • The SBE is seeking ideas for this grant. If an individual’s or organization’s idea is selected, that does not mean that the individual/organization will be implementing or receiving any dollars regarding the idea. If CDE is awarded the grant and chooses to contract out any work related to the grant, it will go through a fair and open competition consistent with the state’s procurement statutes and rules. Submitting an idea to the SBE does not preclude nor approve selection through the RFP process.
  • The SBE may also choose not to select any idea to submit for the ESF-REM grant application.
  • CDE reserves the right to use information or ideas that are provided by the Colorado education community in developing a subsequent solicitation. Individuals and organizations by providing information represent that such copying or use of information will not violate any copyrights, licenses, or other agreements with respect to information submitted.
  • Materials submitted will be open to public record requests as part of the Colorado Open Records Act. Individuals and organizations submitting ideas should not provide information that they consider confidential.
  • If you have additional questions or would like to discuss this process further, please contact state.board@cde.state.co.us instead of individual board members.

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Contacts

For More Information:

Learn more about Education Stabilization Fund Discretionary Grants from the U.S. Department of Education

Email the Colorado State Board of Education at state.board@cde.state.co.us.

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For additional information e-mail state.board@cde.state.co.us.

Members of the media who wish to speak with a state board member should email cde_communications@cde.state.co.us.