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• SEARCHING FOR STIMI • PART SIX •
Recovery Act ‘Stimulus’ Visits Local Schools, But What Happens When the Gravy Runs Out? By Mike Thompson Thus far your best immediate evidence of the federal economic stimulus plan possibly are those abundant orange cones when you’re motoring here and there. Indeed, portions of the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act are allowing Stimi to support overdue roadwork. Also, sort of behind the scenes, Stimi is backing a whole gaggle of job training and retraining, even while unemployment peaks. Our Saginaw Vet’s Hospital is another top priority, along with local cops, health care, and aid for people in need. But what about our K-12 schools? As Review Magazine continues our summer long quest of Desperately Seeking Stimi, it’s obvious to suppose that we would see the strongest Recovery Act impact in our schools when they reopen on September 8th. Education, after all, always is proclaimed a major concern. Even folks who may question many of the other Stimi spending items tend to rally behind our schools. Still, don’t expect to see huge changes in our K-12 buildings this fall. Some of the Stimi infusion will go simply to offset state funding cutbacks by preventing teacher layoffs, the same as local communities that are preserving police and firefighter jobs. President Obama has answered countless “where is Stimi” questions by pointing not to new jobs, but to saved jobs. But how long can this last? How many summers off with paid vacation can educators continue to take, and how many Cadillac retirement plans can continue to roll down the pipeline, Cash for Clunkers, notwithstanding. Job savings in education, along with a few new positions, won’t knock our socks off. Bill Hartl of the Saginaw Intermediate School District, which serves the county’s local districts and charter schools, estimates that Stimi is preserving 36 teaching jobs this year, among several thousand women and men who perform the honorable profession. Furthermore, since this is federal funding rather than state aid, much of the Stimi boost will go to low-income districts that already are strongly criticized in some circles. Examples of Recovery Act targets are early childhood education, including special education, along with alternative projects that aim to rescue some of our troubled adolescents and young adults.
Stimulus Plan Includes $18M for Saginaw County Schools Saginaw County’s K-12 schools, charter academies and juvenile programs are getting a little more than $18 million from Stimi over a two-year span. That’s nearly one-third of roughly $58 million overall for Saginaw County listed on michigan.gov/recovery, and it exceeds even the local roadwork grants of more than $13 million. (If you live elsewhere than Saginaw County, go to michigan.gov/recovery and click on “interactive county map,” and you will see your home community’s Stimi funds listed in a similar way.) Initial school expenditures early this year show how quickly that Recovery Act money can be swallowed up. Some $8.7 million of Saginaw County’s share, nearly half the total, is for special education. This money is channeled through the Saginaw Intermediate School District, known as the SISD, and then steered to local schools. Special education involves extra costs, anything from major expenses for a quadriplegic at the SISD’s Millet Center, to a few thousand dollars for a youngster in a local district with attention deficit hyperactive disorder. Bill Hartl, a longtime SISD administrator, reports that the local schools immediately peeled off nearly $2.7 million to “cover the increased costs of special education” in their regular budgets for the period from last February 11, when the Recovery Act took effect, until June 30, when the 2008-09 budget year concluded. Hartl doesn’t use the following precise words, but this step means that the infusion of Stimi special education funds has helped to avert more cutbacks in regular education. This scenario is a reverse of common practice for many years, through which the schools are forced to dig into regular education money to support the higher costs of special education. Local educators long have lamented that the federal government creates special education rules without providing funds for compliance, so-called unfunded mandates that take money from regular education. Therefore, there is irony with special education money helping regular education. However, as Hartl notes, the $2.7 million is gone “without focusing on any improvements yet” for special education. Stimi federal watchdogs aren’t going to let this happen with all of the money. Districts will have to use remaining money for more than stopgaps. “Arne Duncan (U.S. Education Secretary) says districts will have to show how we’re reinventing education to get the second 50 percent,” Hartl explains. “The state school superintendent, Mike Flanagan, is saying the same thing.” That’s what Hartl wants to see. “After the fact, we build prisons. If we spent that money on early education, many studies show that we would save taxpayers $7 to $13 on each one dollar,” Hartl asserts.
Districts Also Get Direct Stimi Funds Local schools will receive more than special education shares through SISD and Bill Hartl. Each district will also reap a direct allocation known as Title I, Part A. Amounts are based on poverty rates, and so they vary widely. Sums are listed on michigan.gov/recovery. Districts must spend funds mostly for new efforts rather than for existing programs, similar to rules for the final 50 percent of the special education money. Saginaw city school leaders are awaiting approval for a plan that would add 20 Stimi education jobs for a minimum of two years, says spokeswoman Safiya Mosley, along with not-yet-determined employment among contractors with the district. “We are mindful the stimulus dollars allocated to the school district will only last two years,” Mosley says. “After that period we would have to find additional dollars to sustain any new jobs created.” Fifteen literacy aides, one in each elementary and K-8 school, would help teachers guide students for increased reading comprehension. Four more new hires would serve as core curriculum instruction implementers. Also, Mosley says a parent advocacy production specialist would provide video support materials to “help parents learn how to support their children, work with teachers and become involved in the life of the school.” Saginaw schools constantly are striving to involve elders, to the point of describing one project as “Parent University.” A new system known as Response to Intervention, or RtI, would provide teachers with the latest research and technology “to maximize student achievement and to reduce challenging behavior in the classroom.”
A Handful Of New School Programs Are Planned Some of Saginaw County’s other school leaders, along with Safiya Mosley also were diligent enough to share Stimi plans with Review Magazine. Some examples: • Saginaw Township schools will employ two new home-school liaison outreach workers to promote improved parent involvement in the education of their children at the elementary level, says Business Manager Diane Davis. The liaison outreach staffers will encourage parents to send their children to school on time each day, and to visit schools more often. Parents will receive tools so that they feel capable and motivated to work with their children at home. • Carrollton schools hope to add 4.5 teaching positions as “instructional coaches” to help both teachers and students in core subjects, says Superintendent Craig Douglas. Jobs of current personnel would be preserved, but they would work in new ways, in the spirit of the Recovery Act. Douglas says the goal is “a good way to use short-term revenue for some long-term gains.” • St. Charles schools would hire an elementary teacher coach, but in a slightly different manner than Carrollton. The St. Charles educator who would serve in a small classroom, 12 students at most, with children who are considered the most at-risk, says Superintendent Michael Wallace. District leaders have wanted to do this for several years, but have lacked the funds. • Hemlock schools are aiming to purchase computers for special education students that are adaptable to their needs, such as machines for pupils with vision or hearing challenges. Also, individual computers would assist Title I (poverty) students. Superintendent Rudy Godefroidt says a priority is equipment rather than staffing, because Stimi money is only for two years and then funds to pay added staff may run out. • Freeland schools, with a higher upscale income base, aren’t getting enough money to do anything new. Superintendent Matt Cairy says preservation of existing programs and staff is an accomplishment in itself.
For Schools, What Happens When Stimi Runs Dry? For years, Michigan state legislators have faced suspicions and charges regarding how they spend lottery money. Critics say the lawmakers indeed steer lottery money (which is not as much as some observers believe) to schools, but then shift other funds for other purposes. Stimi is becoming the new lottery. Some local educators perceive that legislators and Gov. Jennifer Granholm are absorbing Recovery Act money in order to maintain per-student state aid, known as foundation grants. Scott Sawyer, finance director for Chesaning schools, says districts were supposed to receive a minimum of $7,316 per pupil last year. Stimi allowed state government to shrink the sum to $6,946, and then “backfill” the remaining $370 with the federal funds. “So here (in Chesaning), the stimulus has no NEW effect,” Sawyer says This strategy could continue through June 2011, Sawyer says, but then the Recovery Act is due to expire. By that time, when inflation is combined with ongoing state budget shrinkage, Sawyer says one forecast could cause schools to fall short by up to $2,300 per student. “This is the funding ‘cliff’ that everyone keeps talking about,” Sawyer says. Other educators share Sawyer’s concerns. Craig Douglas: “Beyond next year (2010-11), all bets are off, unfortunately.” Michael Wallace: “This is the toughest time I’ve seen in education, as an administrator.” Bill Hartl: “Pretty soon this money is going away, and reality is going to hit.”
NOTE TO READERS: Previous Review Magazine articles on Stimi can be found by visiting review-mag.com, entering the archive, and entering “economic stimulus” into the Google search. But to save you the time, here are the URLs: http://review-mag.com/archive/680-689/685/how_much_stimi.htm http://www.review-mag.com/after/677/story2display.htm http://review-mag.com/archive/680-689/684/stimulus_money.htm http://www.review-mag.com/archive/540-549/546/Nletters.htm http://review-mag.com/archive/680-689/681/tea_party_america.htm
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