Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the U.S. Department of Education announced late last week that California public schools and universities can apply immediately for $3.1 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act money.

California is the first state in the nation to be approved for a share of the funds.

Kathryn Scroggin, superintendent of Simi Valley Unified, said the district could receive more than $1 million in assistance, with one caveat—the funds must be put toward special education and Title I programs. SVUSD is required to turn in its request by May 4.

"It will definitely be put to good use," Scroggin said of the money from the federal government. "The difficult part is, it's one-time money. A lot still depends on what happens on the May 19 elections, and the budget situation (could) get worse."

The funds are dependent on certain requirements, which include teacher effectiveness, college- and careerready standards, assessments for students and effective interventions.

Districts cannot use the monies to pad "rainy day" accounts or reserve funds. The funds cannot be used for maintenance, athletic facilities, central office, vehicles or modernization, or renovation or repair that doesn't comply with with state law.

The superintendent said she had no specific information about how the additional funding would affect the future of the 230 teachers who received possible reductioninforce notices in March, other than to say it wouldn't prevent layoffs.

"We do know that the stimulus package will not eliminate the need to make reductions in both staff and programs," she said. "It will help alleviate some of what we thought we would need to do in reducing staffing . . . but it is not a panacea."

The $3.1 billion is the first installment of almost $4.9 billion California will receive in State Fiscal Stabilization Funds over the next two years.

The first round of money, about 67 percent of the funds, is expected to be received by districts next month. The second round will be released Sept. 30. The third round is called "The Race to the Top," a competitive grant program for states that make the most progress on reforms using the first two rounds of funds.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell announced the stimulus funding at a press conference last week with Schwarzenegger.

"The Obama administration has acted with tremendous efficiency in awarding these funds to California," O'Connell said. "I now urge our local education agencies to quickly apply for these monies."

Schwarzenegger said in a statement that he hoped the federal money would "protect teachers' jobs."

As of Tuesday afternoon, SVUSD had not received an e-mail from the state office with details of a PIN or password need to submit an application. Scroggin said she wasn't worried about not receiving the information immediately; she said that the application, as far as she understood, would be easy to complete.