The superintendent of Ohio's largest school district is recommending that her school board sock away its $7.9 million in ???Edujobs??? funding in preparation for what is sure to be a tough budget next year.?? She's not alone, and who can blame her?
Ohio faces a monstrous budget deficit, and with K-12 education accounting for 40 percent of state spending, cuts are sure to be made to that sector.?? Columbus City Schools receives one-third of its revenue from the state, so it's smart for district leaders to plan ahead for this impending financial cliff.
It's also smart for Columbus to save the Edujobs cash, because, in reality, the district doesn't actually need the money to do what President Obama and Congress intended.?? That is, to stave off teacher layoffs this school year.?? Of the 113 teachers laid off by the district last spring, all but about 17 have already been called back to their jobs. ??That means that??rather than receiving roughly $70,000 per laid-off teacher (as the feds stated when the bill was winding through Congress), Columbus received six-and-a-half times that, more than $464,000 per unemployed educator.
There's no turning around the Edujobs train now, so I encourage Columbus's school board to follow the superintendent's advice and save the money for next year's many rainy days.?? Otherwise, who knows what all it would be spent on?
Flypaper readers, how are your districts using Edujobs funding?
- Emmy Partin
