Nick Reisman is reporting for State of Politics the federal government August 5, approved the state Education Department's plan for providing schools with academic support, early learning and mental health needs as schools set a goal for in-classroom instruction as students prepare to get back to the classroom. Schools statewide are in line to receive $3 billion in federal aid to assist in this effort. Education officials anticipate catching up students who struggled with remote learning and may have fallen behind academically as a result. Schools are expected in the next month to put in place rules for preventing the spread of the virus and make determinations for mask-wearing indoors. The funds approved are being awarded through the American Rescue Plan. New York has 398 districts designated as "high need" by the state that will receive grants to help students affected by the loss of instructional time and allow schools to spend more money on summer learning. The state is also distributing $195 million for full-day pre-kindergarten programs for children aged 4. Read the full story at nystateofpolitics [dot] com.