So ... is that stimulus coming?
Some districts say they don't think they will get their piece of the federal pie because of a letter sent by several state Senate leaders. Those leaders are asking districts to be cautious with their budgets because until the state budget is approved, there is no promised dollar amounts for school districts.
Should districts be getting some of the stimulus or is it OK to move money around the the budget to fill holes and not give schools a windfall?
Should districts be getting some of the stimulus or is it OK to move money around the the budget to fill holes and not give schools a windfall?
Labels: Federal stimulus money
posted by Dawn Keller at
3:42 PM
5 Comments:
I am concerned the use of Federal stimulus money will create a false sense of security. The concern that the money will be available for a short time is a real one. For those districts that choose to use the money to "plug some holes," they will have to be sure money from another source will be available next year.
I follow closely an out-of-town newspaper online every day. The school district in this town of 40,000 was thrilled to get the Federal stimulus money. They were wrestling with a short-fall in the budget, and were on the verge of quitting school a couple of weeks early. The state has no 180 day limit such as PA. When the money came available, they merely used it to fill in the shortfall.
I fear that other districts will do the same thing. Rather than curtain programs, cut spending, and fit within limits, the stimulus dollars are used as a stop-gap measure. This use of the money is clearly contrary to what was intended (e.g. create jobs). Further, what will this district do for the short-fall next year? Once these programs begin to fund shortfalls, where do they stop.
All the stimulus money initially sounds good, but there are major consequences to pay downstream, unless changes are made. Just using it to plug holes in the accounting sheet is a poor use of the money, and a dangerous path to follow.
Does anybody else share this view? Or am I missing something important in this evaluation?
You know what mama said, "Don't count your chickens before they hatch".
Roger, I agree with you... and someone had brought up these points in an earlier discussion... the money should be used to purchase durable goods for the school... things that are a one time expense and can be used for a few years...
I can't see how this money was intended to create jobs. If it is only for a year or two, how will those jobs be sustained without the district picking up the tab? Unless the jobs they refer to are perhaps construction jobs to complete a renovation on the school? Am I missing something?
The stimulus over all is intended to create jobs... the money going to schools should create employment, but see how those jobs are created takes a bit of following the bouncing ball... for example... if a school gets 40 grand and hires a new teacher... they have the extra money available to pay him/her for a year... after that, they need to come up with another 40k. However, if the school uses that 40k to buy new computers... the school is getting new equipment and HP, Dell, Apple, or Asus is getting a 40k order and have to supply 40k worth of equipment. One school's order of 40k worth of computers isn't going to cause HP to hire a bunch of people, though... however, if you have 1,000 schools placing orders for 40k worth of computers, HP may have to staff up to meet that demand. In the meantime, a huge influx of demand for a product (computer) will cause that price to drop. Over the course of 2009-2010, if school districts all across the country are ponying up cash for new computers, the price of those computers is going to drop. This is where the stimulus starts to take root... To meet the demand, HP has to hire people to handle the orders. The price of the computers drops. Regular consumers see the price drops and start buying new computers again because it's a better deal than what it was before. This maintains the increase in demand, and allows HP to retain those people that they hired initially. Then, people who own HP stock see their investment return to a much healthier level... they feel more financially secure and are willing to buy non-essential items that they had stopped buying before and the effect spreads throughout the economy.
This is a possible and desirable effect from just a very small portion of the stimulus program... that schools will use this money to make needed upgrades in SOMETHING... and that the investment they put out to do so will spur economic activity beyond what money was provided to the schools. That's the reason the package had to be broad and expansive... The economic activity has to be convergent... coming from all sectors and diverse in both scale and timing, so that you see an overall impact on the economy and not just one little sector getting a shot of steroids... We'll see how it works out.
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