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No bailout $$$ for us ...Tue, 03/17/2009 - 4:16pm
By: Ben Nelms
Feds, governor say we’re not poor enough to qualify for extra school funding this year Fayette County Board of Education members got a glimpse Monday night of how federal stimulus dollars might impact state education and the local school system. For Fayette, they were told, there may not be much to see, since Fayette has few residents below the poverty level. And further out, other funds will not be available until 2010-2011. Fayette County School Superintendent John DeCotis said Fayette is the only school district in the state not receiving Title I funds. When asked for an explanation, “They can’t explain it, but they say we don’t qualify,” DeCotis said, obviously not satisfied with the state’s response. Recognized from the floor at the school board meeting Monday night, Sandra Watson, Fayette director of elementary schools and title programs, said she had spoken with someone in Washington, D.C., and had been told that a total of four grants might be available through the Title I funding in a second round of funding, called Flow II. She said she was told that the school system could likely apply for only one of the four grants because Fayette County’s poverty numbers are less than 5 percent, based on 2007 estimates derived from the 2000 Census. That reality makes the possibility of Fayette receiving some Flow II dollars somewhat tenuous, she said. “They say our poverty (level) is 4.7 percent,” Watson said. “So you can challenge, but they said it probably won’t do any good.” As for funds for disabilities programs that might be received through IDEA, the reception of those dollars is contingent on approval through a grant application process, DeCotis said. The stimulus money is expected to come in two “flows,” DeCotis said. The amount that can be expected in arrive in Georgia and be passed through to public education by Gov. Sonny Perdue is currently unknown, he said. What is known, through information received by state school Superintendent Kathy Cox from U.S. Dept. of Education Commissioner Allen Duncan, is that the federal government would like to “send this funding to the states just as soon as possible to save programs and create jobs” and to “improve student achievement.” Based on the information provided, DeCotis said that in Flow I, 81 percent of the funds will be used in 2010-2011 to shore up state education funding rather than in the FY 2009 school year, a decision made by Gov. Perdue. DeCotis said school systems had also been told that the funds targeted for facilities, roughly 18 percent, would be going instead to law enforcement. Flow II funds are destined for disadvantaged students through Title I (poverty-based federal funding) and IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) and are in addition to Flow I funds. State Title Program Coordinator Barbara Lunsford said the Flow II funds will come quickly, with Title I receiving stimulus money based on poverty and on needs improvement. DeCotis said some of the Flow II money could be earmarked for this year, though that eventuality is not yet known. login to post comments
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