U.S. Rep. and assistant speaker of the House Katherine Clark speaks Thursday at the McGlynn School in Medford about the American Rescue Plan. (Photo: Congresswoman Katherine Clark via Facebook)

There’s $8.9 million set aside for Cambridge Public Schools in the American Rescue Plan, part of more than $3.1 billion in emergency education funding statewide, U.S. Rep. and assistant speaker of the House Katherine Clark said Monday.

The full $1.9 trillion in funding was signed into law by President Joe Biden last month, but is only now being released. “We knew that help was on the way. Today, I’m happy to announce just how substantial that aid will be for Cambridge schools, families and child care providers,” Clark said in a Monday press release. “With this funding, Cambridge schools …will be able to open their doors and provide essential services to keep the entire school community safe.”

In total, Massachusetts will get an estimated $512 million for child care providers and families, $13.6 million for Head Start programs, $1.8 billion for K-12 schools and $825.5 million for higher education institutions. Nationwide, the plan provides more than $120 billion for an Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund to pay for schools to reopen for in-person instruction safely; $40 billion for a Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, with at least half the funding to be distributed to college students as emergency grants to prevent hunger, homelessness and other hardships caused by Covid-19; $39 billion in supplemental funding to help child care providers keep their doors open, and reduce costs for families; and $1 billion in emergency funding for Head Start.

Kenneth Salim, superintendent of Cambridge schools, noted the impact the pandemic has had on “every aspect of teaching, learning, operating schools and supporting students, staff and families” and said the district was grateful for the aid to its “multiyear plan to help every student recover and thrive.”

This post took significant amounts of material from a press release.