The CARES Act (one of the federal relief bills) included a $30.75 billion education stabilization fund. Of that, Washington received $216.9 million for elementary and secondary schools. Districts will receive $195.2 million of that allocation.

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction has announced how much will go to each school district, based on an existing federal allocation methodology. The allocations range from $1,000 for five districts to $10.7 million for Seattle Public Schools. (Fourteen districts will not receive any of this funding.)

These funds are flexible. For example, they may be used for any activity authorized by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, coronavirus response, activities to address the needs of low-income children, purchasing education technology for students, providing mental health services, and activities “necessary to maintain the operation of and continuity of services in local educational agencies and continuing to employ existing staff.” (See p. 286 here for the full list.)

Additionally, as Jared Walczak of the Tax Foundation has pointed out, although these funds must be spent on education, they “can supplant existing state education funding, allowing states to reduce their own contributions and reallocate those dollars elsewhere.”