Topeka ? The U.S. Department of Education announced that $301 million is now available for Kansas under the federal economic stimulus program.

“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.

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

Even so, the federal dollars won’t make up for budget cuts made by the Legislature in the face of huge revenue shortfalls and the soured economy.

Lawmakers cut per-pupil spending for public schools from $4,433 to $4,280. The federal funding was needed to get per-pupil funding to that $4,280 level, said Deputy Education Commissioner Dale Dennis.

“Without that, it would have been devastating,” Dennis said Thursday. “That made a big difference, but it’s still going to be extremely challenging,” he said.

School districts statewide are cutting their budgets.

The Lawrence school board has already voted to cut hundreds of thousands of dollars from its budget, including eliminating bus service for students who live less than 2.5 miles from their schools.

And the Legislature had cut higher education funding by 10 percent.

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

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