Stimulus Funds for Education
February 22, 2009 -
On February, 18th, the Education Committee had several hearings, mostly from Education Commissioner Susan Gendron, about the state of Education here in Maine.
The first hearing was about the funds Maine would be receiving for education from the stimulus package passed last week. Approximately, $240 million will be spent on K-12 education, and, very fortunately, the $27 million loss of funds from the supplemental budget passed earlier this month will be reinstituted. That will mean that schools and school districts can continue to operate to June 30th 2009, the end of the fiscal year, with the budgets they previously had. This is a huge burden lifted off the shoulders of superintendents, teachers, students and all associated with K-12 who were struggling to make these cuts.
The remainder of the $240 million will be used to supplement the 2010-2011 education budget. We're facing a serious deficit for the next budget, and these funds will be crucial to providing quality education to all of Maine's students.
Approximately, $83 million will be used for higher education in Maine. The details of how this money will be appropriated and spent have yet to be determined, as the Department of Education is waiting on directives from the federal government.
The money won't be given to Maine without strings attached, however. Governor Baldacci will have to apply for the funds with a detailed description of how the money will be spent. He'll have to prove that funding levels for education will be brought back to where they should be, that we are complying with No Child Left Behind, and that we are adequately serving language-challenged and Special Ed students. Fortunately, we meet all of those standards. We also have to create a Pre-K system, and we already have a federal grant to do so.
In summary, the federal stimulus funds will be a needed boon to our state's education system. More precise details for each municipality will come out in the next weeks.
I'd love to hear what you think about the stimulus funds for both education and everything else.
-Justin
