Stimulus Bill for Education Sector: Schools are Just Saving and Not Rehiring

The recent economic recession has not only affected the financial sector but also the education sector as well. Lack of school funding has caused school districts to lay off thousands of teachers, a few administrative employees and some blue collar staff. According to estimates, there were not less than 300,000 teachers who lost their teaching jobs because of inadequate funds to supplement their salaries. The budget cuts in education also hampered educational reform and reduced the quality of teaching that the schools are producing especially that the teacher to student ratio has become more undesirable.

With the massive degree of public outcry initiated by thousands of state teachers, Washington eventually came up with a solution to prevent future layoffs and rehire back those teachers. The U.S. Congress approved a legislation that will provide $10 billion in stimulus aid to school districts in order to protect its workforce. Intriguingly, instead of rehiring those teachers who recently lost their jobs, district schools have instead saved the money in order to prevent future layoffs.
They argue that with the economic outlook not going any better, it is best for them to preserve the money and prepare for another trying future.

Schools have predicted more budget shortfalls and deficits to come enabling them to save money as much as possible. For example, in Los Angeles, estimates show that over $280 million in budget shortfall will be acquired next year that could threaten more jobs and further increase unemployment levels. Reports show that the district removed 682 teachers and over 2000 support workers just this spring. Recent indications show that the district might again remove over 4,500 workers next year. In New Jersey, over 3000 teachers were removed in May and are still uncertain whether they get their jobs back.

While economic uncertainty still looms, this federal aid package for the educational sector will only create a minor impact unto teachers. Schools are still worried about future outcomes and thus would save the money instead of using it to hire more workers or teachers. While protecting and preserving jobs will definitely contribute to a better economy, there is still a massive disappointment among teachers and individuals who recently lost their jobs and expects a rehiring to happen. The federal government should make sure that schools will ultimately utilize the additional funding to bring back those teachers. But then again, until the economy hasn’t normalized, more and more problems will just surface and people will never be happy again.

Emergency Aid for Teachers and other State Employees Approved by Congress

With an unstable economy and a looming budget deficit, federal employees are in danger of losing their jobs and entering the unemployment world. Over 300,000 teachers, police and other public workers are all prone to job layoffs which the federal government needs to halt further expenses and avoid anymore increase in budget deficit.

Just weeks before the start of the school year, Congress was already busy drafting a proposal to quickly utilize billions of dollars in emergency education aid to various federal states. This move is seen as a helpful factor in preventing the layoff of thousands of teachers across the nation. Removing thousands of teachers is seen as a very catastrophic event where not only will more people get unemployed, but the quality of education in the country will plummet down as well.

The U.S. Senate has already approved the usage of some $10 billion in aid to educational firms and institutions. It will also provide another $16 billion to provide assistance to various states in funding their Medicaid budgets. This will free up a significant amount of money to pursue other major priorities such as avoiding further increases in tax and maintaining the other employees of the state. The aid will basically benefit about 300,000 workers most of whom are teachers or those who are directly involved with the education sector.

With business institutions losing revenues and individuals also losing their jobs, tax revenues have been continuously in a slump. The measure will basically provide financial assistance and relief to the school districts of each state who was hit hard by the recession. It is welcome news to most federal employees as despite fears of further increasing the budget deficit; the federal government has provided what was desperately needed by local schools and states. Carlos Garcia, superintendent of San Francisco's schools, said that the measure is a great help to schools as it enables them to hire more workers. He further mentioned that for us to get out of recession, people should really start working.

The measure will basically get money by cutting other less-priority programs and raising more taxes on U.S.-based multinational companies. Though the republicans criticized the measure as another repeat of the previous economic stimulus bill which only accounted for another increase in massive deficit, this measure would greatly protect people from losing their jobs. The recession will only get worse when more people lose their jobs and result in poverty. The U.S. government should consider preserving and delivering basic social services to all citizens as they really need it especially at this time of hardships and problems.