Schools to get share of stimulus package

by desertjim

President-elect Obama’s proposed economic stimulus package includes money for school construction and to expand broadband access for schools. The president-elect himself has said, “It is unacceptable that the United States ranks 15th in the world in broadband adoption...here in the country that invented the Internet, every child should have a chance to get online.” He has pledged a sweeping effort to modernize school buildings and equip classrooms with computers as part of the economic stimulus plan. So, it can reasonably be expected that the $500 billion economic recovery bill will include billions in grants for school modernization, computer linkups and renovation.

However, some school officials are lobbying lawmakers to include more money for education in the package . They hope that the stimulus bill will include money for special education, teacher training and grants for other educational needs. Edward R. Kealy, executive director of the lobbying group Committee for Education Funding says that over the long term, education is one of the best places for federal dollars because, “It actually has the strongest possibility of being able to pay back.” Since the main intent of the stimulus package is to create 3 million new jobs, it is not clear that such attempts to direct money to existing programs will be successful.

There are lots of questions to be answered at this point. How will individual public schools obtain their share of the stimulus money? How will the money be allocated, who will be eligible and will there be competition for grants? Details will become clearer when Congress returns to work after the holiday break. It behooves the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers to keep an eye on the process and offer teacher input to the writing of the final bill.

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