Stimulus offers boost to education funding
By Ellie Ashford
03/09 -- Economic stimulus legislation under consideration in Congress offers an unprecedented infusion of federal funding to shore up school district budgets hard-hit by the nation’s faltering economy.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, approved by the House Jan. 28, would provide about $825 billion for economic recovery, including $145 billion for both K-12 and higher education, plus additional support for K-12 programs.
The Senate began considering a similar measure Feb. 2. As this issue of School Board News went to press Feb. 6, NSBA was working to defeat amendments on the senate floor to cut spending.
“The proposed legislation would provide timely resources to help restore the federal investment in education as the economic engine for long-term recovery, sustainability, and global competitiveness,” NSBA Executive Director Anne L. Bryant said.
In addition to a large investment in school construction and modernization, both bills include a $13 billion increase for Title I and a $13 billion increase for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to cover fiscal years 2009 and 2010. Both programs have been historically underfunded, causing districts to shift funds from other areas to meet those federal mandates.
“This would be the largest federal increase in education funding ever. It’s a major policy shift creating the expectation that Congress will sustain this level of increase in the future,” NSBA Director of Federal Legislation Deborah Rigsby told members of the Federal Relations Network at their annual conference in Washington, D.C., Feb. 2.
Supporters say the bills would create nearly 4 million jobs by the end of 2010, including 266,000 in education and health services.
The key investment for school districts is a major new program that would support the repair and modernization of facilities, including technology upgrades and energy efficiency improvements. The Senate bill includes $16 billion for this, while the House bill proposes $14 billion.
The Senate bill includes an additional $320 million for school infrastructure projects under the Impact Aid program for districts with non-taxable lands; the House bill includes $100 million for this purpose.
A new $22 billion two-year “Qualified School Construction Bonds” program is in the House bill to support school construction, repair, modernization, and land acquisition. The Senate bill includes $10 billion for this purpose.
Both bills increase the bond authority from $400 million to $1.4 billion annually for Qualified Zone Academy Bonds that are used for school repair and modernization.
A big question still to be resolved is how the money for infrastructure improvements will flow to districts.
Under the House bill, infrastructure funds would be distributed according to a formula similar to the one used for Title I programs. The Senate bill would distribute the funds partly using the Title I formula and partly on a competitive basis to states based on need.
The bills include a “use it or lose it” provision that requires districts to have at least 50 percent of their infrastructure projects under contract within the first year. Both also have provisions to ensure states don’t use federal dollars to justify cutting their own budgets.
Among other provisions affecting K-12 education:
• Both bills would provide states with fiscal relief to prevent cutbacks to key services, including $39 billion dedicated to K-12 and higher education; $15 billion to states as bonus grants for districts that meet key performance measures, such as teacher quality and longitudinal data systems; and $25 billion for other high-priority needs, which may include education.
• The House bill includes $250 million to help states develop systems that analyze data on individual students to help raise student achievement. The Senate bill does not have a comparable provision.
• Both bills provide $100 million for teacher quality grants under the Higher Education Act. The House bill includes $200 million for the Teacher Incentive Fund, a provision not found in the Senate version.
• Both bills call for $2.1 billion for Head Start and $2 billion for child care development block grants.
• The Senate bill provides more funding for homeless students ($700 million) than the House bill ($66 million).
• Only the Senate bill includes funds for the school lunch program ($198 million).
• Both bills call for $1 billion for education technology to create 21st century classrooms and support technology training for teachers.
• In addition, both bills extend the moratorium on regulations that would have limited school-based Medicare reimbursements through July 1. This is important because the cost to districts nationwide would be about $800 million a year if the moratorium were lifted.
Reproduced with permission from
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