A New York Times article today, with a Sacramento insert by the Bee’s Diana Lambert, makes the incendiary assertion that some schools districts may not spend the just passed $10 Billion dollars on hiring teachers and preventing teacher layoffs. Even State Senator Steinberg hinted that the money might be used to solve other problems in the state budget.
Let us be clear. This is an budget emergency. That money was passed by the Congress to hire teachers and other staff, not for superintendents to play with, to hide, or to use for their other plans.
Districts should hire the teachers now. The money is on the way. Yes, that leaves a budget problem for next year. But, the kids need a quality school system this year. And, the economy needs these teachers back to work.
It was teacher voices and teacher mobilization that passed the bill. Senators received over 20,000 e mails, phone calls, and letters. It took 4 votes to pass the bill over the Senator filibuster.
If you are in the middle of a flood, or a fire, you don’t say, well lets not fight this because we might need the funds next year. We need to respond to the crisis by hiring teachers now – and then working on next year’s crisis.
Any superintendent who uses this money for other purposes should be fired. I can assure you that any school board that transfers the money to other purposes will face a well organized voter revolt.
Should administrators ignore the clear legislative intent to provide teacher jobs and use this money for other needs, it will be very difficult in the future to convince the Congress in the future of the need to fund teachers and schools.
In the Bee, the article on page one is titled, “Schools hold off on hiring with U.S. aid, “by Motoyoka Rich with assistance from the Bee’s Diana Lambert.
In the New York Times the article is titled, “Given Money for Rehiring, Schools Wait and See.”
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