Florida To Receive More Than $15 Million In Federal Grant Money For Education Programs

WFSU | By Caitie Switalski

Published June 17, 2015 at 2:45 PM EDT

The Corporation for National and Community Service is investing $15.4 million in Americorps volunteers for Florida. These volunteers will work to tutor kids in K-12 schools.

$15.4 million of federal funding is headed to Florida to support K-12 education. That money will be paired with state contributions to support nearly 700 Americorps volunteers in three major Florida cities.

Jacksonville, Orlando and Miami are receiving a large influx of Americorps volunteers for education. Wendy Spencer heads up the Corporation for National and Community Service, or CNCS. Spencer announced Wednesday Volunteer Florida is set to receive $6 million as a part of the federal education grant. Volunteer Florida will announce how it will divvy up that money later on.

Education Commissioner, Pam Stewart, says the partnership will support education programs throughout Florida.

“We can’t do it alone in education—our community partners provide a tremendous amount of support to help ensure that our students and parents get the most out of education they receive in the schools in Florida,” Stewart says. “Volunteer Florida is one of those partners and thanks to this funding from CNCS, Volunteer Florida will be able to put Americorps members to work in schools across the state.”

Upon completion of their year of service, the Americorps volunteers will be eligible for $3.6 million of scholarships from that $15.4 million pool. In addition to the federal grant, Florida’s state government has pledged $15 million for the program.