In WA state, we may be laying off 2,000-4,000 teachers; where the fuck is the econ stimulus $$$???

[RiverStone]

I really don't get it.

Like many states, Washington is operating at a budget deficit (around 9 billion). Washington state is possibly looking at not only 15-30% tuition increases in higher education for college - but massive teacher layoffs. The Washington Education Association, the states largest Educator Union, is estimating up to 2,000 to 4,000 teachers will lose their jobs. Some schools will simply be shut down totally. Google "teacher layoffs" and your states name and look at how this is happening across the country.

Somewhere in the news, both President Obama and the new Secretary of Education spoke of the 700+ billion dollars of proposed economic stimulus dollars and that a healthy share is set to go to schools nationally to prevent this very thing from happening.

On balance, I remain thrilled that Obama is our president and policy wise - also thrilled he is reversing many of Shrubs disastorious policies. Yet even with my enthusiasm, as a 20 year educator on the front lines in the public school system - I'm wondering why teachers are feeling the hurt (while AIG execs are not). Where is the $$$ that is supposed to go to Education? I have yet to see one penny of it going to preserve teachers or schools!

My girlfriend works as a teacher for a small district of under 1000 students K-12, they are looking at cutting 9 teachers (and sadly she is one of them).

[sandnsea]

1. It goes to Special Ed and building funds

He wanted to make sure that we took this opportunity to rebuild and refurbish 100 year old schools. His hope was that the state and local govts would pick up the slack on the teachers if the feds added Title money and building money.

I'm SO SHOCKED - the state and local people AREN'T.

We've got a levy option in May. If it doesn't pass, we will lose everything except core classes and federally funded programs.

[Davis_X_Machina]

12. That was the theory.

But if legislatures and governors want to fail to close the loop, and not level-fund the rest of the education spectrum with the money offset by the stimulus, no one can stop them.

In fact, pocketing the difference is good politics. There's no political price to be paid from cutting state aid to local education. On average, only one household in three has children in public schools.

[sandnsea]

15. So chew at the state, not Obama n/t

[stillcool]

2. I think the Governor's website..

will tell you where the money is going.

[RiverStone]

9. It does, but does not answer the OP question

Gov. Gregoire (who I voted for) does a good job on that webpage outlining how the pie is split up. And of course, the largest share of the state budget goes to education related expenses.

Click on the FAQ section and there is no mention of the federal stimulus dollars --- just a question about using the states own 'rainy day fund'.

Almost any choice she makes will be unpopular in this situation and my question remains: Where are some of the bailout dollars that did not already go to save banks or the auto industry???

Unless the clusterfuck is so great that even those billions won't make a difference... :shrug:

[sandnsea]

18. I answered it

I'm working on our school levy. I have to know where the stimulus money is going because people are asking. Title I, IDEA, and school building funds.

[CC]

3. He put it in the stimulus package but

I have no idea whether how it is spent in each state and district is also written into the package. How the local budget is parceled out is done at the local and state level. You might want to ask your local politician where your state's share of that money is going.

[SmileyRose]

4. I'm not sure how I feel about this.

I never understood the need for a mandated 16 or so kids in a class (at least that's what my niece's/nephew's schools have had as mandates). If we go to fewer brick and mortar schools with larger class sizes it means less of a quantity need for teacher and more of a need for teacher helpers in the lower grades.

The schools my sibling's kids go to have no choice but to up the class sizes. They can't afford any new brick and mortar schools so have to pack more kids in a classroom. Some classes for older grades have up to 50 kids in one class. The classrooms are large enough - we had the same thing in our grades in that same building. Oddly enough, a higher percentage of kids graduated HS and went on to college then in that school system than do now with smaller class sizes and more teachers. I have no idea what is going with education in this country, I really don't. But it seems to me from the few school systems I know about that small classes and more quantity of teacher has not improved things.

I have no idea if it will make matters worse, and IMHO no one else does either. We just have to wait and see.

[RiverStone]

10. To give you the short answer...

Couple larger class sizes with the bullshit mandates imposed by NCLB and you will see schools turned into production farms.

More like a factory then a classroom...

Scrap NCLB then maybe teachers can get back to providing real education.

******************************

Finally, the spring sun is out in Washington --- time to go play in it! :hi: Have a good weekend!

[DJ13]

5. Wheres the money?

AIG

Goldman Sachs

Bank of America

Citigroup

[LWolf]

6. The stimulus money comes with a bunch of strings attached.

It's not intended to rescue failing state budgets and horrifically deep cuts in education.

I'm across your southern border; my district is currently meeting to decide what cocktail of staff cuts, lay-offs, program cuts, increases in class size, cuts in instructional days, and pay cuts will be the least toxic. The only thing we know is that ALL of the above will happen to some degree. The stimulus money will not affect that in the least.

The stimulus money is there to bribe districts into jumping on the Obama/Duncan trainwreck of charter schools and merit pay.

It has nothing to do with stimulating the economy, and it has nothing to do with providing relief from severe cuts in services.

[sandnsea]

7. Oh good christ what bullshit

The Federal Government funds Title programs so that's where they put the money, in the programs the federal government funds. They also put money into school building and improvement because it's been neglected for so many years.

OREGON isn't funding the schools adequately and the federal govt cannot make up the huge gap.

[LWolf]

8. I agree that Oregon doesn't fund schools adequately.

Our current crisis isn't about Title I, either. It's about the state budget, which is not being stimulated by the education portion of the "stimulus" package.

[sandnsea]

14. That's because of the stimulus dollars

The reason Title I and IDEA ren't the issue now, is because of the stimulus money. So quit saying there are strings attached when the only "string" is that the federal government funded the programs they are able to fund, and created a fund to build and repair crumbling schools because many poor school distrcits need that.

Don't live in a poor district? Well neither do I. But that doesn't mean I want kids with leaky classrooms to pay because the rich fucks in my town are too cheap to spend an extra $100 a year on education.

All that "strings" bullshit makes you sound just like a teabagger.

[LWolf]

19. I teach in a Title I school.

Which is beside the point. We are currently looking at cutting almost every support system we've got, increasing class size, and cutting many days from a school year that's already one of the shortest in the nation.

The only cut not on the table right now is staffing our Special Ed teachers. Their aids, though, who make it possible to ensure top-quality service to every student in their huge case loads, ARE on the table. If I spread our sped teacher over the 20 students in 3 classes I have with IEPs, in the amount of time she has to spend with them (she has another 25 students from other classrooms,) they won't be getting much time or support. Right now, we are a strong team, and she includes other students who demonstrate the need for extra support whether they are on her case load or not. That, too, will go away if our sped aids are cut. With the probable increase in class sizes to absorb teacher cuts, I'm not feeling very optimistic about being able to give our sped and title I populations adequate support.

The first round of stimulus money isn't touching that crisis. Our district will be applying for some funds, but has no idea whether they will or will not be forthcoming.

The next round has specific strings attached directly related to the reforms on the Obama/Duncan agenda. The purpose is not to provide economic stimulus, but to enact the agenda.

Since I don't support that agenda, I'm not thrilled. And I'm not alone.

Make no mistake: I DO think we ought to be creating profound changes in the system. I've thought that for the entire 25 years I've worked in that system. I just don't think the Obama/Duncan plans will help. I think they will set us further back. That's my professinal opinion, and it's shared by many.

Meanwhile, I have students who are being short-changed right now, and who will be further short-changed next year. The "stimulus" money isn't changing that. Instead, my governor has suggested that I, and my colleagues, work for no pay to make up the difference, and, no matter what direction we go, we are looking at pay cuts, staff cuts, program cuts, AND cutting instructional days.

[sandnsea]

21. Let me spell it out. S-A-L-E-M

"The only cut not on the table right now is staffing our Special Ed teachers."

Because You Will Get Stimulus Money.

I don't know how to be any clearer than that.

The rest of the problems are S-A-L-E-M.

[LWolf]

24. Let me spell it out more clearly for you:

N O S T I M U L U S M O N E Y I S O N T H E W A Y.

Special ed teachers are not funded by the stimulus package. Our district will be applying for funds, but doesn't know if they will receive any, or not. No stimulus money is guaranteed to any district.

Stimulus money is not factored in to next years budget, because it isn't guaranteed. If some stimulus money is granted, which is not assured, it is granted in Oregon through the "School Day Restoration Fund."

Those funds come with specific requirements, one of which is to minimize reductions in the number of school days. The stimulus money alone can't restore all the days we'd have to cut to balance the budget, and we won't get any if we DO cut too many days, which is why we are looking at ALL possible staff, program, and salary cuts.

Another requirement IS to "continue special ed programs;" of course, the process of SST, IEP, and mandated service is a federal requirement, so it would have been continued anyway. That has very little to do with S A L E M.

The word in our district is that stimulus money will be tied, not to things like keeping PE or music teachers, who are currently on the cutting block, or keeping current class sizes, but to things like keeping the data crunchers and providing sub time for teachers to meet with data crunchers, and to continue to increase the year-long assessment process.

[sandnsea]

25. Ack.

YES Stimulus money is on the way for Special Ed. Our district is calculating in $600,000. If yours isn't, it's because all of you want to piss on Obama for political reasons, right and left, instead of taking care of your kids. We have our share of those here too, we just tell them to sit down and shut up until we get the levy passed.

[LWolf]

26. Riiight.

The entire school board, the superintendent, the administration, and every teacher "just wants to piss on Obama for political reasons." :eyes:

Just ignore the FACT that no stimulus money is guaranteed; that there is an application process, requirements to be met, and no guarantees that it will be awarded to any particular district.

[Name removed]

27. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[LWolf]

28. Thanks for providing support for my point.

It lays out the requirements I've repeatedly stated. It doesn't promise funding. It sets an amount based on ADMw for districts that will receive a grant. It does not, anywhere, say that all applicants will be funded.

It does not undo projected shortfalls in the'09-10 school year. Since we've already had to cut days and pay to finish THIS school year, it won't affect us this year at all. Whatever effect it has is directed towards '09-'10, and our district is not budgeting staff, days, or programs based on what they MIGHT get. As a matter of fact, under section 20 (a), it specifically sets out requirements for budget cuts before any funds will be granted. Which I've already pointed out.

[sandnsea]

29. Wow. Get the link removed

and then pretend it said something it didn't. And I don't even know what you could have objected to because I'm pretty sure I took out the part where I called you an idiot.

:crazy:

So here we go again. Here's the "Arne Duncan charter school merit pay strings".

"certify the district has made a good faith effort to: (A) eliminate or minimize reductions in the number of school days; (B)continue special education programs; (C) review and possibly reduce
administrative salaries; (D) collaborate with teachers and other employees
concerning ways to maintain school days; and (E) utilize cash reserves to the
greatest extent possible."

If you're not planning on borrowing anything this year, and using any of the FEDERAL STIMULUS to pay it back; and you're not planning on it in next year's budget - then your superintendent and school board are playing games with you. There will be money and the only requirements S-A-L-E-M has put on the money is above.

[LWolf]

30. Those aren't the Duncan strings.

His don't come until the SECOND round of stimulus. Those are state strings: the budget has to be cut before you get any money to avoid budget cuts.

If you need it:

http://asumag.com/dailynews/arne-duncan-stimulus-education-20090305/

[msongs]

11. you could raise your taxes and pay for them yourself? hmmm nt

[keep_it_real]

13. Education is "always" the first fired and the last hired.

The "managers" of the elite get richer system, the governors, mayors and legislators don't don't care if the corporate slaves don't have educators for the corporate slaves children to educate them to be good corporate slaves. As long we continue to slave on the corporate plantation for all our lives that is all that matters until they ship the corporate plantation to a poor country and then we are really f - - - - -.

[keep_it_real]

16. Billions for education - NO! Billions for wepions of war and war - YES!

What can you say? That is the nature of American thinking.

[Zynx]

17. There isn't enough stimulus money to prevent all cuts.

This is a persistent problem.

[diddlysquat]

20. Tell your girl friend not to worry yet.

I am in Washington State also. I work closely with my district's union. The school districts may be RIFing now but the district's are just looking at the worst case scenario. Our own WEA president who is from the Mercer Island District was RIFed 7 times back in the 70's yet they always had her return to work before the summer was over. Your girlfriend will probably be asked to return to her job in the next 2-3 months.

[satya]

22. Our district (LWSD) getting $5million in stimulus money; would have to cut $12.5million without it.

Yes, the cuts are deep and painful ($7.5 million). We've been having community meetings; we're asked to choose alternatives to cutting teachers. Wherever possible, I selected the options where we parents would pay for services (transportation, sports) rather than cutting staff. We're looking at the worst case scenario, based on state senate proposed budget, so hopefully it won't be quite this bad.

It makes me sick to think of so many people losing jobs, particularly in this economy, and especially teachers, who in my estimation are heroes who should earn twice the salary of the highest-paid athletes and entertainers.

So to answer your question, we *are* getting stimulus money, it just isn't enough to undo all the damage caused by a generation of conservatives raiding the public coffers.

[Mr. Hyde]

23. well, at least the bankers are doing OK. nt

[quiller4]

31. Most of our state's stimulus money goes toward construction

In Washington we are already spending stimulus dollars on both school and highway construction. The WEA is overstating its case which is probably what they should do at point in the state budget debate. We will see education cuts in Washington. Closely low enrollment schools in districts with declining populations of school-age children (think Seattle) probably is wise albeit painful.