MOULE: Educational stimulus

January 29, 2009 at 3:20pm

So we know now that if the stimulus is approved by the Senate and signed by President Obama, public schools across the country are going to get some money.

In the Rochester region the amounts vary from $493,000 for Wheatland-Chili, Monroe County's smallest district, to $65.5 million for the city schools, its largest, all over the next two years. But it's not just general funds that �the districts can use any way they please.

A lot of the money will come through two specific programs, both examples of unfunded mandates. (For the curious, the super-wonks, and school administrator-types out there, we're talking about Title IA and IDEA funding.)� So this extra money is just the federal government stepping up to its obligations, even if it's not meeting them entirely.

"The frustration over the lack of funding for this is very, very high," says Monroe County School Boards Association executive director Jody Siegle.

The money should provide some relief to local taxpayers. Because the mandates have been historically underfunded, districts -- and local taxpayers -- have picked up the costs.

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