Stimulus $$ headed our way?

I just came across the Congressional Research Service breakdown of stimulus dollars by district. You can link to it here.

Seattle shows up on page 256. It's late and I'm not a budget guru, but from the report it looks like our district could receive a little over $25 million this year (hey, isn't that our shortfall?), and another $13 million in 2010, split between Title I, construction and IDEA. But I'm not sure of the role the state plays in doling out dollars to districts, and the report intro says the figures are estimated grants.

Regardless, it feels like a bit of good news.

Comments

Mr. Edelman said…
$13.4 billion is for construction, which Goodloe-Johnson has already said we can't use.

$5.5 billion is for Title 1. In Seattle, high schools don't receive Title 1 funds. But I suppose the Title 1 funds could be used to keep from reducing the WSS formula in elementary schools; that would offset some of the losses in I-728 money.

$6.6 billion is for IDEA, The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

How does this get filtered through the state? We'll have to see what impact this has on Seattle's budget.
2/19/09, 8:24 AM
Mr. Edelman said…
The spreadsheet showing Title 1, construction and IDEA grants doesn't tell the whole story.

Here is a spreadsheet that breaks down the state grants into more categories and shows what the states are supposed to get for education from the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund. Washington, for example, is supposed to receive almost $1 billion for education from the stabilization fund.

How can this money be used? I don't know, exactly. It's very complicated apparently. For a quick take on the state grants, see The Quick and the ED here.
2/19/09, 12:15 PM
Denise Gonzalez-Walker said…
Thanks for the additional links! I agree that federal funding is complex, but surely we should see some relief from this...right?
2/19/09, 2:44 PM
Mr. Edelman said…
re: Denise

I'm not sure what we'll see.

Gov. Gregoire had factored an estimate of what we'd receive from the federal government when she made her initial budget proposal that included cuts to education. Since then, the revenue picture has worsened considerably.

I don't know how seriously to take Randy Dorn, but he's quoted in the P-I as predicting that 2,000 to 3,000 teachers will be laid off in the next two years. He also said an equal number of support personnel would be laid off, too.
2/19/09, 3:48 PM
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