States Not Using Fed Money To Rehire Teachers

[Hannah Bell]

As schools handed out pink slips to teachers this spring, states made a beeline to Washington to plead for money for their ravaged education budgets. But now that the federal government has come through with $10 billion, some of the nation’s biggest school districts are balking at using their share of the money to hire teachers right away.

With the economic outlook weakening, they argue that big deficits are looming for the next academic year and that they need to preserve the funds to prevent future layoffs. Los Angeles, for example, is projecting a $280 million budget shortfall next year that could threaten more jobs.

“You’ve got this herculean task to deal with next year’s deficit,” said Lydia L. Ramos, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation’s second-largest after New York City.

But the money - which was raised by cutting $12 billion dollars from food stamps - was meant to rehire teachers THIS YEAR...But the way the law was written allows districts to use the money up until September 2012, so it sounds like educators and school staff already laid off are shit out of luck this year.

http://perdidostreetschool.blogspot.com/2010/08/states-not-using-fed-money-to-rehire.html

[Lasher]

1. Counterproductive hoarding.

So they've taken money out of the demand side so it can be hoarded by bureaucrats. The banks did the same thing with their stimulus money. This is not the way to get an economy going.

[Whisp]

2. the food stamp cut is a lie. I don't need to read the rest.

[Hannah Bell]

3. lol. a lie because "they'll change it before then"? is that it? because it's on the books at

present.

[Whisp]

4. answer me this:

has this 'cut' taken place yet, if not when is it scheduled for?

[Hannah Bell]

5. like the blogger said:

"What is certain is that kids and parents will have their food stamps cut by $59 a month starting in 2013."

maybe you didn't get that far. maybe you didn't even bother to read the link.

in terms of the budget process & negotiations, the money was indeed "raised" via food stamp cuts. whether they will happen in the event is a different question, but currently they're slated to start in 2013, less than 3 years from now.