“The $301 million Kansas will receive today is part of the single largest boost in education funding in recent history,” U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Thursday morning.

Duncan said the funds can be used to save jobs and “lay the groundwork for a generation of education reform.”

The funds are being made available under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Much of that act was aimed at helping states, such as Kansas, that were reeling from revenue shortfalls.

Kansas will be eligible to apply for another $148 million this fall. Kansas had already received $98 million in education stimulus funding.