Outside the Beltway: Who are We Bailing Out?

Todd Thurman / August 19, 2010

A bill signed by President Barack Obama on August 10^th was supposed to save teachers’ jobs. It was a $26 Billion dollar spending bill that allocated $10 billion for education spending so school districts could rehire laid off teachers or prevent districts from having to fire more teachers. Speaker Nancy Pelosi thought it was so important that she called the House of Representatives back from August recess to pass it. However, there seems to be a problem.

A report that came out last week notes that some of the states who received the bailout funds were never actually  in danger of having to lay off teachers. Some states that received funds when they did not need them, like Alaska and North Dakota, have no plans for how they will use the money.

And yesterday, the New York Times reported that the new stimulus money might not be used to re-hire teachers, stating: (more…)