Equity solutions in education receive support from new RISE Education fund

Editor's note: This story was originally published by Colorado Newsline. Read the original story here.

Gov. Jared Polis this week announced a new fund meant to support innovations and close equity gaps in schools.

The $32.7 million fund — called Response, Innovation, and Student Equity Education, or RISE Education — is available to high-needs school districts, charter schools and public institutions of higher learning, according to a news release from the governor’s office.

The fund is open to pre-K through college-level recipients. Money for RISE Education comes from federal CARES Act funds via the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund, one of four education funds established in Colorado with CARES Act money.

Grants from RISE Education will support innovative solutions related to structural challenges to learning and that promote equity by helping students “most likely to have been affected by the economic, social and health impacts” of COVID-19, according to the news release. Priority will go to grantees that serve rural areas.

“This fund will help address the impact our colleges and universities face as a result of the pandemic and ask them to innovate and enhance efficiencies to improve higher education in the state,” Angie Paccione, executive director of the Colorado Department of Higher Education, said in the release. “I challenge our institutions to rethink the student experience and keep equity in the forefront of their proposals.”

The first round of applications are due Oct. 17.

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