| President Obama Signs American Recovery and Reinvestment Act President Barack Obama signed the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Wednesday. This Act combines $281 billion in tax cuts for individuals and businesses with more than a half-trillion dollars in government spending. The money will be used for infrastructure, health care and help for cash-starved state governments, among scores of programs. School districts nationwide will receive $70 billion in additional funding for K-12 programs and special education and to prevent cutbacks and layoffs and repair crumbling schools. States can use these funds to support elementary, secondary or higher education programs which may have suffered from earlier budget cuts. The funds may also be used to provide formula increases for elementary and secondary schools during fiscal years 2010 and 2011, or to restore state support to public institutions of higher education. Any remaining funds must be allocated to school districts based on the federal Title I formula. Additionally, governors can use up to 17 percent of the funding for public safety and other government services, including education services and higher education modernization, renovation and repair activities. According to AEA President Daniel N. Marzoni II, Gov. Mike Beebe indicated that he did not want to commit any money the state did get to any ongoing obligation. "When we spoke to the governor on Friday, he asked AEA to help him brainstorm projects that could use one-time money," Marzoni said. Marzoni suggested that some of the funds be used to remodel and upgrade Special Education Title I rooms. "This would bring many of those classrooms to where they should have been over 10 years ago," he said. If you have suggestions of projects that could use one-time money, please reply to this e-mail. ldimond@nea.org President Marzoni would like to present Gov. Beebe with a list of AEA's suggestions. | ||
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