Here is another example of where Governors were allowed by the Obama Administration to use Stimulus Funds to balance state budgets instead of saving/ creating jobs.
Last year due to previous reckless spending and waste by North Carolina Democrat Lawmakers, Governor Bev Perdue was faced with a $4B Budget Deficit.
Unlike Pres. Obama who was able to "blame" his predecessor George W. Bush for the mess he inherited, Bev Perdue didn't have that same luxury.
You see prior to being elected Governor (via the "2008 Obama Tsunami"), she was North Carolina's Lt. Gov. under former NC Gov. Mike Easley who by the way is currently under investigation for campaign fund violations.
Almost immediately upon signing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law, North Carolina received $8.2 Billion dollars in Stimulus Funds.
Pres. Obama's Admin. was supposed to ensure those funds were used as Federally allocated for purposes intended. Example: Saving Teacher Jobs, Creating Infrastructure Jobs, Green Jobs, Medicaid, etc.,
Well...
Instead of saving Teacher Jobs, NC Gov. Bev Perdue has consistently required District Superintendents to slash thousands of Teacher Jobs.
Now here we are in January 2010 while experiencing a Recession and terrible Winter, yet Gov. Bev Perdue is once again requiring District Superintendents to slash thousands more Teacher Jobs.
Which leads me to ask:
If Gov. Bev Perdue received $8.2B in Stimulus Funds in 2009, to help save Teacher Jobs, etc., why is she firing more Teachers in early 2010?
Its no secret many Democrat Governors used Stimulus Money to balance their hurting budgets last year.
Thus far this has been a Moot issue for the Obama Admin.
Was that Stimulus Money a Windfall "Thank You" gift from Pres. Obama to Governors who endorsed him on the Presidential Bid campaign trail?
Did Gov. Perdue use that money to balance North Carolina's State Budget?
Inquiring minds want to know because slashing more Teacher Jobs only hurts our Students.
If I'm wrong then its up to Gov. Bev Perdue to prove that Stimulus Money is being used to help save NC Teacher Jobs.
Check out the videos and articles below to understand where I'm coming from on this serious Teacher Lay-Off crisis.
Charlotte Schools Planning More Teacher Lay-Offs
Another round of Teacher Lay-offs looms as Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools heads into a bleak budget year, a consultant told the school board Tuesday night.
Much remains unclear about the district's 2010-11 budget, but Superintendent Peter Gorman said he could summarize the prospects in three words: "It isn't pretty."
The board, which includes five new members, kicked off budget talks Tuesday. Jonathan Travers, a consultant working with CMS on ways to boost achievement while the budget shrinks, outlined two prospects: increasing class size and eliminating sparsely attended high school electives.
Both mean eliminating teachers, he told the board. He recommended that CMS start early working with principals to identify the least effective teachers, who would be cut when class sizes increase.
CMS has about 19,000 employees, including more than 9,000 teachers. State and county money make up most of its $1 billion-plus budget.
Governor Bev Perdue has asked state agencies to outline budget scenarios for a 3 percent increase and cuts of 3, 5 and 7 percent. Gorman and Chief Financial Officer Sheila Shirley said that means the odds are that CMS will face a cut. Seven percent would mean losing $45million, Shirley said.
She said the county is unlikely to be able to cover the additional $15 million to $20 million that CMS will need to pay for growth, new schools and rising costs of current services.
Travers, director of the nonprofit Education Resource Strategies, outlined three scenarios for small increases in class sizes. The most dramatic would cut 197 teachers and save almost $10 million. The smallest would cut 101 and save about $5 million. He said national research shows small changes in class sizes don't affect student performance.
His other recommendation involves eliminating advanced and specialized electives that draw very small classes. Vocational/career courses, arts and music, ROTC and advanced foreign language tend to have small enrollment and high per-pupil costs. Smaller high schools, such as Harding and Waddell, have higher concentrations of those "expensive" courses, Travers said.
Eliminating those classes would mean getting rid of some specialty teachers who would be unlikely to find other jobs in CMS, he said.
Last year, as the recession hit home, Gorman laid off hundreds of teachers and other employees. Many were rehired when the state approved a tax hike and federal stimulus money arrived. Travers acknowledged that another year of layoffs would be tough on morale.
Travers said some cost-cutting measures he has recommended to other districts - such as cutting teacher pay and benefits or shrinking central-office staff - don't make sense for CMS. CMS is already lean on central administration, compared with other districts he's studied, he said.
He noted that CMS will be figuring out a new approach to teacher pay, based on performance, as part of Gorman's five-year plan, and said CMS has little control over the cost of benefits.
The board will hold a special work session Jan. 25 to talk more about the budget. Gorman expects to present a plan in March.
Laid Off Teachers Facing Tough Job Hunt
Less than a year after Kelly Berg moved to Charlotte for a teaching position at Myers Park High School, she is out of a job and planning her next career move.
Berg, who holds a master's degree in history education, is one of several hundred Charlotte-Mecklenburg teachers that have been laid off as N.C. school districts cope with unprecedented budget cuts.
"It's not like you can just go to another employer," Berg told NewsChannel 36. "This is my employer and this employer is laying off."
The 1,300 employees axed from the CMS payroll have plenty of company in the region.
Gaston, Union, and Cabarrus county schools are also bracing for hundreds of potential layoffs.
Schools in Lincoln County are planning for the loss of 63 teaching positions, according to the district's website.
About 70 teaching assistant jobs may be eliminated in Iredell County, a spokesperson told NewsChannel 36.
Catawba County school officials meet Thursday to discuss potential layoffs.
"You have to have a paycheck, you have to have a job," said Dot Cromwell, an educator with 36 years of experience and past-president of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Association of Educators. "There's a lot of people in that situation."
Teachers were also required to give up 0.5% of their salary, a payment deducted from their most recent paycheck, after N.C. Governor Bev Perdue ordered all state workers to help close a $4 billion budget deficit.
"It's just sad that we're treated this way," Cromwell said.
Berg, a first-year CMS teacher with three years of previous teaching experience in New York City's public schools, said she is facing the possibility of not having an education job next school year.
She recently posted an ad on the website Craigslist, offering to do landscaping jobs or work as a farmhand, using her experience from a summer position at a farm in Waxhaw.
Schools which lose teachers are likely to see more crowded classrooms in the fall, Berg said.
"I hope that they're able to hire back teachers, because I think that the people who really suffer in this situation are the kids," she said.
$44 Billion in Stimulus Funds Available to Drive Education Reforms and Save Teaching Jobs
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today announced that $44 billion for states and schools is now available under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. This funding will lay the foundation for a generation of education reform and help save hundreds of thousands of teaching jobs at risk of state and local budget cuts.
"Given our economic circumstances, it's critical that money go out quickly but it's even more important that it be spent wisely," said Duncan. "The first step toward real and lasting reform that will ensure our students' competitiveness begins with absolute transparency and accountability in how we invest our dollars, educate our children, evaluate our teachers, and measure our success. We must be much more open and honest about what works in the classroom and what doesn't."
Duncan made his announcement at Doswell Brooks Elementary School in Capitol Heights, Md. He was joined by Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, Congresswoman Donna Edwards (D-Md.), Maryland State School Superintendent Nancy Grasmick, Interim Superintendent of Prince George's County Public Schools, William Hite, Jr., County Executive Jack B. Johnson, Maryland State Teachers Association President Clara Floyd and Prince George's County Education Association President Donald Briscoe.
The Prince George's County School District is facing a $155 million budget gap for next year. School officials estimate the district will receive at least $142 million from the stimulus package over the next two years.
Governor O'Malley saluted the administration for the reform elements of the package saying, "President Obama and Secretary Duncan have put a bold education reform plan in place that will invest in our schools, our students and our teachers. But each State must play their part to show how these dollars will be spent, and to move forward on a path to progress in our schools."
Today's announcement includes the application and guidelines for $32.6 billion under the State Stabilization Fund, representing two-thirds of the total dollars in the Fund. This includes $26.6 billion to save jobs and improve K-12 and higher education and a separate $6 billion in a Government Services Fund to pay for education, public safety or other government services.
Funds in the first round will be released within two weeks of an application's approval. A second round of stabilization funds will be released later in the year. A third round of funding, the Race to the Top competitive grant program will reward states that have made the most progress on reforms.
The guidelines released today promote comprehensive education reform by receiving commitments from states that they will collect, publish, analyze and act on basic information regarding the quality of classroom teachers, annual student improvements, college readiness, the effectiveness of state standards and assessments, progress on removing charter caps, and interventions in turning around underperforming schools. Specifically, the law requires states to show:
* Improvements in teacher effectiveness and commitments that all schools have highly qualified teachers;
* Progress toward college and career-ready standards and rigorous assessments that will improve both teaching and learning;
* Improvements in achievement in low-performing schools, by providing intensive support and effective interventions in those schools.
* That they can gather information to improve student learning, teacher performance, and college and career-readiness through enhanced data systems that track progress.
In a letter to Governors, Secretary Duncan outlines a set of proposed measurements that states would report on their progress toward the education reforms spelled out in the law. The Department will release these metrics for public comment in the Federal Register in April and then issue a final version.
The guidelines also require states to report the number of jobs saved through Recovery Act funding, the amount of state and local tax increases averted, and how funds are used. It further requires that the bulk of the federal dollars be spent on education.
Part 2 of the State Stabilization Fund Application, available later this year, will allow states to apply for the last third of the stabilization funds, which includes $13.1 billion for education and $2.9 billion designated for the Government Services Fund. Guidelines for Part 2 require states to submit the required data or provide an explanation of why the data is currently unavailable and a plan for collecting the data by 2011.
Finally, $5 billion in competitive grants, the "Race to the Top" fund, will be awarded to states that are most aggressively pursuing reforms. In order to ensure that Recovery Act funds are driving classroom improvements, states competing for Race to the Top funds will be judged on how well they are using the first round of stabilization and Title I funds to advance education reforms.
"Every dollar we spend must advance reforms and improve learning. We are putting real money on the line to challenge every state to push harder and do more for its children," Duncan said.
In addition to the stabilization funds, $11.4 billion is available immediately under the Title I, IDEA, Vocational Rehabilitation and Independent Living programs. Title I programs serve schools with large concentrations of low-income students. IDEA funds serve students with disabilities. A second round of Title I and IDEA funds will be available later in the year.
To receive State Stabilization Funds, states must also meet maintenance-of-effort (MOE) requirements of the law by showing that 2009 state education budgets at least meet 2006 state education budget levels. If they cannot meet the maintenance of effort requirements, states can receive a waiver if they can show that their education budgets are not being disproportionally reduced.
"Under the law passed by Congress, the top priority for these dollars is to do right by our schools and our kids. If states play games with these funds, the second round of stabilization funds could be in jeopardy and they could eliminate their state from competitive grant money. This money must be spent in the best interests of children," Duncan said.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Lags In Share Of Stimulus
North Carolina's stimulus checkbook shows that rural counties have benefited more than urban counties, on a per-person basis, with Charlotte-Mecklenburg's share lagging.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg has so far received $246 per person in Federal Stimulus dollars, compared with $328 per person statewide.
The one urban county to do exceptionally well is Cumberland County, home to Fayetteville and Fort Bragg. The Department of Defense has poured money into the Army base, pushing Cumberland's per-person total to $816.
Local officials are still chasing millions in Stimulus grants, but some are frustrated.
“This is a nationwide trend on how the money was divvied up – everyone is getting a little bit, and in the end there will be nothing to show for it,” said Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, a Republican. “We should have spent it in Eisenhower- and Roosevelt-type projects for the next generation.”
Charlotte-Mecklenburg's low per-capita share is due to a number of factors.
Many of the stimulus dollars are being distributed by existing state formulas, some of which favor rural over urban counties. Charlotte-Mecklenburg has received only $8.9 million in grants – out of $409 million – distributed by federal agencies.
Dempsey Benton, who oversees N.C. Stimulus Spending, said there are some pots of money that are difficult for Charlotte-Mecklenburg to access. The Department of the Interior, for instance, has so far spent $12.3 million in North Carolina – mostly in coastal counties, and none in Mecklenburg.
“The Department of the Interior is spending money in the mountains and in the coasts,” Benton said. “That's not going to help the Mecklenburgs and the Guilfords.”
The N.C. Office of Economic Recovery and Investment, created to handle stimulus money, last week released a county-by-county breakdown of stimulus allocations through June 30. It has allocated $3.2 billion through June, and the state estimates it's spent $1.3 billion.
The state expects to receive $8.2 billion in Stimulus Funds.
The stimulus, designed to jump-start the economy and improve the nation's infrastructure, includes money for construction projects such as roads and weatherizing buildings, and also assistance payments for food stamps and school systems.
As unemployment nationwide has hit 9.5 percent, a 26-year high, Republicans have criticized the stimulus as ineffective. One problem has been that money hasn't been spent as fast as the Obama administration hoped.
Benton said there has been a longer than expected lag time in federal agencies issuing rules as to how the money has been spent. But he said North Carolina is moving quickly to spend the money, and that it's above average among states in getting money on the street.
Mecklenburg has so far been allocated $219 million. The county has struggled accessing some of the biggest pots of money.
The Charlotte Area Transit System carries more than 33 percent of the transit passengers statewide, but a state formula gave it 21 percent – $20.8 million – of the transit money parceled out statewide. CATS plans to use the money to refurbish a bus maintenance garage on North Davidson Street.
Mecklenburg has been shortchanged in highway dollars, due to the state's equity formula, which the N.C. Department of Transportation secretary Gene Conti said penalizes urban areas.
Mecklenburg has so far received $37.3 million in stimulus money for roads and bridges, for projects such as widening N.C. 51 south of Pineville, improving a traffic signal system in Charlotte and widening N.C. 73 in Huntersville. The Department of Transportation's office overseeing the Charlotte area distributed the highway money and chose to spend some money in neighboring counties like Anson, Union, Cabarrus and Stanly.
By contract, the DOT office overseeing five counties in central N.C. chose to spend all of its stimulus highway dollars – $64 million – in Fayetteville. That will help build part of the city's outerbelt.
Mecklenburg has struggled accessing the third-largest pot of stimulus money – grants from federal agencies.
Charlotte/Douglas International Airport didn't get $2 million in funding for runway repairs from the FAA. No Charlotte federal buildings have received money to become environmentally friendly. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has bypassed Mecklenburg.
Cumberland, by contrast, is benefiting from $117.5 million in defense grants to Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base. The money will be spent on more than 70 mostly small projects, such as paving roads, improving barracks and making buildings more energy efficient.
Cumberland's unemployment rate is 9.3 percent; Mecklenburg's is 11 percent.
The state has so far used $126 million in “education stabilization” funds to help universities and community colleges pay their bills. Mecklenburg has received $7.8 million for UNC Charlotte and Central Piedmont Community College. Orange County, home to UNC Chapel Hill, has received $20 million and Wake County, home of N.C. State, has received $15.8 million.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools' share of stimulus dollars has more closely matched the county's population, but one state budget proposal would reduce state money to CMS by the same amount.
Charlotte assistant city manager Ron Kimble said the city is so far pleased with how much money it's received. But the city has a team to apply for competitive stimulus dollars.
The city is seeking nearly $26 million to hire 150 police officers, $8 million to buy 11 hybrid buses and $20 million to buy 200 foreclosed homes.
There is still the possibility the stimulus will produce the type of large, long-lasting project McCrory wants.
The N.C. DOT hopes to use stimulus money to improve rail service between Charlotte and Raleigh, increasing speeds up to 110 mph. The state is also applying for a special stimulus fund to replace the Interstate 85 Yadkin River bridge.
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Sources: McClatchy Newspapers, Charlotte Observer, WCNC, U.S. Dept of Education, Whitehouse.gov, Recovery.gov. Youtube, Google Maps
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