On Tuesday, Robert Scott, Texas Education Commissioner, announced that a plan for the allocation of education stimulus funds will be released in the next week.
Around $2.5 billion of the education stimulus money will be given to the state by the end of March. Another $1.3 billion will be available later this year. Legislators and the education commissioner will decide how to spend about $3.2 billion, which can go toward primary, secondary and higher education.
Scott told a House committee overseeing the economic stimulus money that he wants to coordinate closely with legislative budget writers as he comes up with his agency's recommendations for the stimulus spending plan, which must be submitted to federal officials by Perry.
The state is supposed to adhere to federally designated principles in deciding how to spend the money, including addressing college and career readiness; sound assessment and data systems; teacher effectiveness and equity in teacher distribution; and help for struggling schools. Federal officials would also like money to go toward expanded pre-kindergarten education, Scott said.
"We're going to have to demonstrate our commitment to those four principles," Scott said, adding that Texas is already concentrating on many of those areas in education.
He said he believes Texas has a good story to tell as it proposes how it will spend the federal money.
"We have a tremendous opportunity here," he said. "I don't want to see us squander it."
The Texas Education Agency also is providing guidelines for school districts on how to spend their share of federal money, Scott said.
Texas is expected to get more than $16 billion overall from the federal economic recovery package, with the largest chunk directed toward education. Of that $6 billion in education money, about $2.2 billion is dedicated by law for special education and low-income students for school districts. The majority of the rest is what the Legislature and governor will decide on.
I'm looking forward to seeing the effects that money actually has on local schools. As a student in Austin, I know there's a lot to be improved. While I know that the stimulus funds will in no way get close to solving the education funding problems, it will certainly help school districts around the state.
Kay Bailey Hutchison sent out an email Monday afternoon which included an Op-Ed she wrote for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. In the email she criticized the stimulus bill's price tag, but did not seem to object to the principle of the bill. Hutchison is frustrated with the process in which the recent $410 billion spending bill was passed and voted to strip all 8,500 earmarks from the bill (though the measure did not pass). For example, she wanted spending that appeared in both the stimulus bill and the spending bill to be taken out of the spending bill. She is also nervous about the federal debt and the amount of time it will take to repay the the debt.
Here's a quick excerpt:
And those who will be hit hardest are small businesses. Under this massive tax increase, economists predict that hiring will slow and the unemployment rate will continue to escalate. Savings and investment will be discouraged. And our nation's entrepreneurial spirit will be stifled.
...
We are dangerously approaching a situation in which we have so much debt that foreign investors will not buy it without a significant interest rate increase to protect them against increased risk. Furthermore, the debt we incur today will take years to bring down to a manageable size. Is this what the "New Era of Spending Responsibility" (as the budget blueprint is titled) looks like?
Now, the fun part.
Hutchison voted to remove all 8,500 earmarks. That was the politically correct thing to do. But, when that measure didn't pass. She added $150 million of her own earmarks. So, you don't want excess spending; you're worried about the federal debt; but you include the most earmarks of any Texan in Congress. That doesn't make sense to me.
Now, I've got to hand it to her. Politically, it was a smart move. She voted to remove earmarks. She voted against the bill that included her earmarks and then was able to help out her constituents with $150 million in earmarks. It's a great political move, but it was also hypocritical. She said one thing in a message to her supporters and then did something completely different. That's not the way to keep supporters, Senator.
