What do we know about the federal funding for schools?

There was this big national splash when the bill was signed, and a smaller one when it was announced the money was being released to states, but I am still seeing confusion over the latest round of federal funding for schools, signed by President Biden in March.
Let me see if I can clear a bit of that up.

Very topical meme via Jess Gartner's Twitter

First, always read Matt Barnum in Chalkbeat. 

You can get a general outline of how much is being spent at the national level here. There's a state by state tracker (which you may find paywalled) here. There is a district by district estimate here.

Crucial points to know: 

• There is both local aid to municipalities and school district aid in this bill. They are not coming from the same pot of money. Thus if you have seen estimates of how much your city or town is getting, the district funding is separate from that. 
  
  
• This comes out in parallel with Title I funding, which means higher amounts for higher poverty districts. This is parallel with the previous rounds of federal funding that have come out during the pandemic. Estimate about 2.3 or 2.2 of the December ESSER funding. 
  
  
• 10% of each state total stays with the state. Of that, the state needs to spend 5% of that to create resources to help schools address learning loss, 1% help create summer school programs, and 1% to help create after-school programs. In Massachusetts, the Commissioner has said he'll use some of the remaining to ensure that districts that wouldn't otherwise get some of this funding--as they don't serve enough students in poverty to qualify for Title I--get something.
  
  
• Districts must use 20% of the funding to address learning loss. Beyond that, districts can use the funding for much of what they've been scrambling to provide during the pandemic--from supplies to technology to building improvements--to the very broad “Other activities that are necessary to maintain the operation of and continuity of services...and continuing to employ existing staff.”
  
  
• Districts have until October of 2024 to spend this money.

A few additional things to consider:

• This is a lot of money, but it is one time money. It is going to go away. It is not always going to be coming in. Thus:
• Districts have to avoid a fiscal cliff. One time uses--repairing HVAC systems, running a program this summer--are straightforward. Reoccurring expenses--hiring staff for that learning loss, technology that will need replacing, even HVAC work that will continue to need filters or other ongoing spending--needs to be at least planned for if not avoided. Thus:
• Think long-term on this money. There's going to be a BIG push to show results NOW--and there's no doubt going to be some major sales pitches coming on how we could spend this!--but this is about students and the districts that serve them recovering and moving forward from this pandemic. That isn't a short term issue. Tapering off on spending is one thing; considering if the pick-up (in Massachusetts) from SOA will managing operational increases is another. But above all:
• SPEND THOUGHTFULLY.