AZ school leaders: Federal money welcome, not a cure-all

Arizona schools are looking forward to receiving their first infusion of federal stimulus dollars within the next few weeks, although the money will not be a cure-all for the education crisis, according to State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne.

The first installment, about $186 million, will go directly to schools to help pay for educational needs of low-income students, such as those who require extra tutoring and students in special education. Most of the money will go to schools where at least 40 percent of students qualify for free- and reduced-price lunches. That's about 60 percent of Arizona's 2,000 schools.

The state is expected to receive more education stimulus money, about $1 billion, between July 1 and Sept. 30.

Horne said the first $186 million "is a significant amount of money, and it's very significant because it means the federal government is helping to pay for services it's requiring... That enables schools to free up money for other things like avoiding layoffs."

While the federal money will be a great help, Horne said, "Next year's not going to be good news. The federal stimulus package makes what could have been a catastrophe just bad news, but it doesn't solve the problem completely."

Horne said that state lawmakers have taken an unfair amount of blame for recent cuts in education funding. He said the most serious problems have been in school districts where voters failed to pass budget overrides last year.

Lawmakers cut 2 percent from school budgets and every district could overcome a 2 percent cut without laying off teachers, according to Horne.

John Wright, president of the Arizona Education Association, agreed with Horne that the state needs to think long-term and not get carried away with the federal money. He said the state needs to plan "to essentially supplement the federal investment and make sure that this is not a one-year or two-year project, but that this is an ongoing commitment."

Wright added, "It has to be Arizona making the commitment to invest and structure our schools to be able to provide the highest quality of education for all of our children. We cannot rely on this federal money alone."

Wright, however, welcomed the federal money saying that, without it, "Arizona schools would face some dire circumstances in the year ahead."