State Applications For Education Stimulus Funds Lagging

With the July 1 deadline approaching rapidly, Education Secretary Arne Duncan reports that only 22 of the 50 states have applied for their shares of the $48.6 billion state fiscal stabilization fund designed to save teacher jobs across the nation. Only a total of $13 billion has been distributed to 13 different states, though the Education Department stood ready to dole out as much as $32.4 billion of the money by April 1 this year. Secretary Duncan says his staff can review and approve applications in nine days, but the state paperwork has not even been submitted by 28 states as of yesterday. You would think states wanting to avoid teacher layoffs when school starts in the fall would have deposited these checks already.