Progress Illinois

Is  the stimulus package doing as much for schools as proponents promised back in the spring? A new study by the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) finds that administrators from 160 school districts across the country think "a lack of flexibility in the funding" has been stifling. Specifically, many said they were unable to even save core teaching positions, despite the infusion of federal funds. The Christian Science Monitor summarizes the findings:

The announcement earlier this year that roughly $100 billion in federal stimulus funds would flow to public schools came with great expectations – both for saving jobs and for fostering reforms in education. But the way the money is being used so far is decidedly more mundane. [...]

In a new survey of 160 school-district leaders, 53 percent say they have not been able to use the money to save teaching positions in core subject areas or special education. And 67 percent say the opportunity to direct the money to reforms has been limited or nil.

“Everybody appreciated getting the money …, but primarily all the money did was help to backfill the budget deficits they were already facing,” says Daniel Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) in Arlington, Va., which released the survey Tuesday.

Thanks to both the economic collapse and state lawmakers' inability to fund education sustainably, many Illinois districts faced major budget deficits this year.  As a result, administrators had to make some unenviable decisions. But it's worth noting that without the stimulus package, they would have been forced to cut much, much more.

In April, Illinois was provided $1.4 billion in ARRA education funds via the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF) which was used to fill a gaping hole left by declining state funding for elementary and secondary education in FY 2009. (The state was separately awarded $420 million in Title I stimulus funds to support low-income students, and $524 million in Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) money to support special education, much of which has not been distributed yet.) Illinois has already used $1.038 billion of that total sum (PDF) to fill holes in district budgets caused by low tax receipts and state funding shortfalls. At the end of September, the state will receive an additional $678 million in SFSF funds for FY 2010. That money, along with FY 2009 leftovers totaling $642 million, will ultimately fill next year's gap, which the state expects to run (PDF) at least $835 million deep. Those dollars are preventing extremely deep cuts in an already stressed system.

Unfortunately, members of the General Assembly have not formulated a plan to cover these gaps once the stimulus runs our next year. And at least $1 billion in new revenue will likely be needed just to pay for legally-mandated programs. It's their inaction to fund the state's education system fairly and reliably that should be the primary source of outrage.

Image used under a Creative Commons license by Flickr user Wiggatz.