Federal Stimulus Money Was to Help At-Risk Students and Disabled

January 25, 2010

When Gov. Jim Doyle announced last April that $366 million in federal stimulus money was headed for Wisconsin schools, the stated goal from Washington was to help children with disabilities and at-risk students in poor schools — "while stimulating the economy."

But it’s unclear if the almost $12 million distributed to the Madison School District, with a third of that going to teacher training and coaching, will accomplish those goals.

"I think at the end of this period we will have spent a lot of money and I don’t know what we’ll have to show for it," said Lucy Mathiak, vice president of the Madison School Board. "Professional development is a really nice thing, but how do you even measure the in-class result?"

About $1 million of the Madison district’s $11.7 million in stimulus money will buy technology for schools, welcomed by school officials. Programs for students with behavioral and mental health needs will be beefed up as well, and the district estimates about 40 new short-term jobs will be created.

But none of Madison’s money could be used for operating costs or building repairs, despite a 15 percent drop in state funds for the current school year. To local officials’ dismay, even the $2.5 million they’d earmarked to launch 4-year-old kindergarten did not qualify under the stimulus law.

The stimulus grant "is a large sum of money, and yo u don’t look a gift horse in the mouth," said School Board President Arlene Silveira. "But there are such restrictions on how it can be used. It’s frustrating to see the needs in the district but to say, ‘We don’t have the power to use the money where we think it would help us the most.’"

The stimulus money is separate from the $8 million the Madison district might get under a new federal education grant competition known as Race to the Top. A first round of grants to states will be announced in April, but only a few states are expected to be winners.

SUBHED

Doyle, a Democrat, played a key role in helping persuade federal lawmakers and President Barack Obama to include money for schools in the $787 billion economic stimulus package approved last year, originally designed to spur the economy by paying for infrastructure improvements.

Doyle said last spring that the money would prevent widespread layoffs of teachers and "protect our property taxpayers."

But the district didn’t lay off teachers this year, and Madison homeowners did see a jump in school property taxes for the 2009-10 school year, translating to an increase of $82.50 for the owner of a $250,000 home.

The stimulus funds "didn’t increase or decrease property taxes," Erik Kass, assistant superintendent for business services, said. "These funds are meant to supplement activities that are currently taking place" in the district.

Under the stimulus package, the district received $6.2 million for special education and $5.5 million to help disadvantaged students. That’s on top of the roughly $6 million it annually receives from the federal government in each of the federal special education and Title I programs.

Divvying up the m oney while navigating an evolving set of rules from Washington "has been an incredible amount of work, especially on the part of the administration," said School Board member Beth Moss. "Trying to put together a budget based on numbers that change weekly or daily is nearly impossible, especially when the restrictions on those funds keep changing."

The federal payout is for only two years, so officials had to find a way to use the dollars without going over a "funding cliff" once the stimulus money suddenly stops, said Madison Superintendent Dan Nerad.

"It (the stimulus money) isn’t free money, because we have restrictions on how we can spend it," said Steve Hartley, the Madison District’s chief of staff, who has overseen the stimulus funds process for Madison schools. "So it doesn’t fill in the gap that we’re facing across the district. It’s good, but it’s not like we can spend it any way the district feels it needs to spend the money."

SUBHED

The district will spend more than $4 million of Madison’s stimulus funds on teacher training and teacher coaches. About $1.15 million of that will cover the costs of conferences, overtime and substitute teachers for staff learning how they can better serve students with disabilities. Another $400,000 will train educators and develop curriculum for the district’s dual-language immersion programs, which teach students in both Spanish and English.

John Harper, who heads special education, bilingual and English as a Second Language programs, said he thinks the district’s plan strikes a good balance between teacher training and other needs.

Board member Moss noted that teacher training can be a lasting investment that won’t require long-term spending commitments.

&q uot;If we can build (knowledge and skills) among a group of teachers, then those teachers can spread that knowledge amongst their colleagues," she said.

But Silveira and Mathiak said they would rather spend the money on direct classroom services.

Some other items in the district’s stimulus spending plan:

• $1.6 million to identify and serve struggling students early in their school careers.

• $814,000 for technology in schools with high poverty rates.

• $400,000 to expand programs for students with severe behavioral or mental health needs.

• $250,000 to modify buildings for students with disabilities.

• $244,675, as required by law, for private and parochial schools serving low-income students and students with disabilities.

• $200,000 for assistive technology for students with disabilities.

• $141,000 for math materials.

• $100,000 each for outreach to Latino parents and to identify gifted students.

• $30,000 for UW-Madison to develop tests to monitor student progress.

The district may tweak its spending plans over coming months, district officials said. Budget reports are posted online at tinyurl.com/madstimulus. The funds must be spent by Sept. 30, 2011.