Hassle Over Education Money Worries Schools (TX)
August 16, 2010
Fearing hard economic times, some Texas school superintendents are cautious about the extra funding heading their way from an education jobs bill President Obama signed into law last week.
Some might fill vacancies in the upcoming school year that otherwise would have remained empty. But saving much of the federal money appeals to school officials who worry a severe state budget shortfall will deliver a painful wallop in the fall of 2011.
They also worry that Texas’ $830 million share of the education jobs funding bill will end up in legal limbo as Gov. Rick Perry and Attorney General Greg Abbott threaten to sue the federal government because of strings attached to the new money.
Harris County school districts stand to get more than $149 million from the jobs stimulus package approved last week by Congress that is financed largely by closing tax loopholes for corporations that send jobs overseas.
But Perry and other state Republican leaders blasted the legislation because it requires Perry to certify the emergency education money would not be used to replace state funds and that education funding would not be cut proportionally more than any other program.
The state’s congressional Democratic delegation proposed the amendment in response to frustration from Texas school officials. They expected last year’s $3.25 billion in federal education funds to boost the state’s investment in education. Instead, state leaders replaced state money with the federal funds, leaving schools without the bonus investment they expected.
‘It’s good news’
Neither Houston ISD Superintendent Terry Grier nor district Chief Financial Officer Melinda Garrett was willing to discuss the impact of the $72 million in federal funds for the state’s largest school district.
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Aldine ISD stands to get about $13 million from the education jobs bill. That can only help a district struggling with budget cuts and forced to dip into its reserve fund to pay operating expenses.
"It’s good news, but I don’t know the details on how it can be spent," Aldine Superintendent Wanda Bamberg said. "If we are able to pay our current staff, that would be $13 million that I could use toward my deficit."
Aldine school administrators have cut $40 million in recent years and trimmed 118 positions through attrition, she said.
If state leaders contest the funding restrictions, "then I am in the same position that I was in last week, and that’s not a very good position," Bamberg said.
"It’s frustrating to have the money intended for us and us not be able to access it," the Aldine school leader said.
Cypress-Fairbanks ISD cut $11 million from the coming school year budget. Getting $6.6 million in federal funds "might prevent budget reductions for next year," Superintendent David Anthony said.
"Even though the amount that we are projected to receive is only one-tenth of the amount that we have cut from the budget during the past four years, the amount is the equivalent of approximately 130 teachers," Anthony said. "That is a significant number."
The law requires all states to provide assurances they will maintain existing funding levels for education and not make disproportionate cuts.
"If anyone wants to play games or mess around, we will simply stop funding them and put tha t money in states were there’s a real need," U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said. "We’re not going to have any tolerance for (states) trying to divert money or playing games."
‘The right things’
Asked specifically whether Texas had to sign a contract or simply enter into a good-faith agreement, Duncan answered: "We will be working with every state, including Texas, to make sure the right things happen for children."
Perry argues that it’s unconstitutional for him to guarantee any future legislative action.
"Hopefully, somehow or another, they can slip it out of there," he said of the provision that is already part of the law.
"Everyone understands that this is not doable," he said. "The Constitution is the Constitution. You have to respect it."