Many local school districts around the country are facing a financial dilemma with the upcoming school year, which is causing fears about future job losses and budget cuts. Recently a $26.1 billion bailout was passed by the House of Representatives, with $10 billion of that money earmarked for schools. State education officials fear that the $10 billion federal aid package will limit their ability to monitor education spending.
One of the biggest problems that state legislators have with the $10 billion bailout is the accuracy of the number of jobs that will be saved because of this federal aid. The federal government is using a formula, just like they have in other job-creating claims, which has proven to be inaccurate. For example in the state of California the federal estimate of 16,500 jobs saved by the law exceeds the 15,000 teachers that lost their job during the last school year, making it impossible for anyone to truly know how many jobs may be affected.
Another issue with the $10 billion bailout money is that the bill was passed so close to the start of the school year that school officials are unsure if they will be able to rehire or replace laid off teachers who have already found other jobs. Complicating the issue further is the way that the bailout money can be spent. According to the federal bill states cannot use the federal funds to replace other education aid, and is to be used solely for “preservation of jobs serving elementary and secondary education,” i.e. teachers.
Another issue with the $10 billion bailout plan is that President Obama is requiring states to maintain next year’s education spending at the same percentage of revenue as this year. Revenue increases will mean automatic boosts in education which will have to be offset by reductions in transportation, public safety, or social services to balance budgets. This will make it extremely difficult for local school districts to balance their budgets that are hiring teachers and increasing spending this year after the federal aid is all used up.
