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Kindling Flames
The Blog of GWU Education Policy Students

Now what, Mr. Secretary???

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 gives approximately $100 billion to education over the next two years. And President Obama has tied this funding to high expectations to schools, with the money expected to provide new opportunities for the education system to innovate—the vast majority of these funds are to supplement, not supplant, state and local education dollars. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has promised that "Where we see a state or district operating in bad faith or doing something counter to the president's intent, we're going to come down like a ton of bricks."

Well, Mr. Secretary…

In Loudoun County, Virginia:
“After hearing that an initial batch of $11.8 million in federal funds would soon arrive in Loudoun County, supervisors slashed $7.3 million from the schools budget. They also made clear that if more federal recovery money flows to schools, schools might be asked to give back an equal amount of county dollars.”
--The Washington Post, April 13, 2009

In Rhode Island:
“The second usage of the stimulus funds involves Individual Disability Education and Title I funds." These funds have a great deal of restrictions on how they can be spent," Lukon said. "The governor plans to reduce state aid by the amount of money we will be receiving in IDEA and Title I funds," she said. Essentially, this will create a situation wherein, although it appears to be an even trade, it is not, Lukon said.

Dr. Robert Fricklas concurred with Lukon, "These funds need to be directly tied into what IDEA is all about. There is little discretion in how these funds can be used," Fricklas said.

Lukon summed up the situation by explaining that the substitution of IDEA and Title I funds for general funds essentially leaves a hole in the operating budget of approximately $106,000.”
--The Jamestown Press, April 2, 2009

In Hawaii:
“Governor Lingle plans to cut the schools' budgets, replenish them with stimulus money and use the savings to fill the state's budget gap.”
--The Associated Press, April 13, 2009

Your move, Mr. Secretary...

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3:28 PM :: ::

2 Comments:

  • This shows the narrow and selfish thought process that legislators of county governments use as they think they are "helping" their districts make it through tough times. I would like to see the feds come down hard on districts that misuse stimulus funding in this way. Districts that abuse the receiving of funding should have to return the stimulus. How long would it take for the federal government to receive a refund?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at December 01, 2009 11:43 PM  


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