Maintenance-of-Effort Requirements and Waiver Requests under the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund and the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund

This is a request for approval of a new emergency information collection that would solicit from States, Outlying Areas, and State educational agencies (SEAs) maintenance of effort (MOE) data under section 18008 of the CARES Act. Under four programs – the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund (GEER Fund, Section 18002) and the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER Fund, Section 18003) and two formula grant programs to the Outlying Areas authorized under Section 18001(a)(1),Education Stabilization Fund-State Educational Agencies (ESF-SEA) and Education Stabilization Fund-Governors (ESF-Governor) – States are required to maintain fiscal effort on behalf of elementary, secondary and postsecondary education. Recipients of the resources from the ESSER Fund, the GEER Fund, the ESF-SEA Fund, and the ESF-Governor Fund have signed Certifications and Agreements, in which they agree to abide by the provisions of the CARES Act, including MOE requirements. The Department is requesting an emergency clearance to meet the requirements of the CARES Act and ensure that States and Outlying Areas are meeting the MOE requirement. In the publication of frequently asked questions regarding the Maintenance of Effort requirement, ED issued guidance and a sample form for States and Outlying Areas to submit this statutorily required data.

The latest form for Maintenance-of-Effort Requirements and Waiver Requests under the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund and the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund expires 2021-02-28 and can be found here.