Posted by Jesse Lee
The Recovery Act, which the President signed in February, is having positive impact on almost every sector of our economy, both in the short term and in terms of creating a new foundation for the future.
But one of the areas that might be felt even more directly by families than most – again, in both the short and the long terms -- is in education. A new report out today from the Domestic Policy Council documents just how broad the impact has been.
Immediately after President Obama signed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) into law on February 17th, the Department acted swiftly to move the first phase of these funds to states in response to drastic budget shortfalls. More than $67 billion in formula grants have been disbursed as of September 30th.
Initial reporting from states find that the October 30 release will show at least 250,000 education jobs created or saved across the nation that are supporting our students and fueling our economy.
The report meticulously looks at the impact the Recovery Act had on state budgets, which had legislators facing awful choices on how to close massive shortfalls. And as it goes on to explain, the benefits of the Recovery Act ended up going to virtually every student in the schools that were affected, since teacher layoffs effect virtually every student:
Saving and generating jobs for teachers has had clear effects in the classroom. As local school districts are faced with budget shortfalls in a slowing economy, the number of teachers employed may decline.
However, the need to educate students does not decrease. Fewer teacher jobs, without fewer students, may lead to larger and often unacceptable class sizes.
Faced with these circumstances, some school districts have chosen to use ARRA funds to avert such class size expansion. For example, reports indicate that Peoria, IL used ARRA funding to focus on increasing the number of teaching positions and reducing class sizes in kindergarten, and at the first- and second-grade levels.
At the Rothschild Middle School in Columbus, GA, the principal was able use ARRA funds to hire more math teachers to deliver individualized attention to students through smaller classes.
ARRA has also provided significant funding for low-income students ($10 billion Title I ARRA appropriation) and for students with disabilities ($12.2 billion under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act).
These funds have all been disbursed by the Department and are currently supporting essential special education professionals and programs throughout the nation and bolstering schools in many of our poorest communities.
Along the lines of the aforementioned "new foundation," the Recovery Act funds have also helped our schools move towards the kind of reform that the President has spoken about, and which has been embraced across the political spectrum:
The overall goals for education in the ARRA are to stimulate the economy in the short term and to invest in education advancements to ensure the long-term economic health and success of our nation.
In Florida, thousands of teachers were laid off because of eight years of Republican tax cuts. When the economy weakened there was not tax base to cover salaries teachers, police and fire fighters.
When Jeb Bush was the governor of Florida, he instituted incentive pay for the best teachers. One of the biggest ironies was that these best teachers were the first to be laid off because of their higher salaries.
source: White House blog
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