Education Stimulus Dollars Used to Fill Budget Holes

In a story by Kelsey A. Kemp, "A survey recently conducted by the American Association of School Administrators reported that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding has prevented school districts nationwide from implementing reform and changes.

The survey, Schools and the Stimulus: How America's Public School Districts Are Using ARRA Funds, reports that while the ARRA funds mean additional dollars in school districts, most of that money is being used to shore up fiscal budget holes and, even then, the stimulus money is often not enough to prevent school districts from eliminating personnel and core subject teaching positions. According to the survey, more than 67 percent of the 160 school administrators said that the stimulus dollars were being directed toward filling state and local budget holes, and 53 percent of the administrators surveyed said they were unable to save teaching positions for either core subjects or special education."

Does it surprise anyone that stimulus money is being used to fill holes created by budget shortfalls? The money from the federal government was supposed to be used for new programs and innovations. What does this mean for the future of our schools? You can bet the opponents of public education will talk about how the stimulus money didn't work without addressing the real issues.

It's time we let President Obama and Secretary Duncan know what is taking place and we need to hold our legislators accountable for the budget mess they've created.