Although the economy has begun to rebound, school leaders say they’re still facing serious budget shortfalls for the 2010-11 academic year that threaten their ability to implement new technologies and close achievement gaps among students.
Some observers are calling the current economic climate a “perfect storm” of bad news for schools: Continued budget strains at the state and local levels will be exacerbated when the federal stimulus funding ends—a phenomenon referred to as the “funding cliff.” And though President Obama’s federal budget plan for fiscal year 2011 requests $4 billion more for education than the previous year, the administration is proposing to shift a greater percentage of federal dollars from formula-based grants to competitive grants—a move that school leaders fear will further squeeze their limited resources.
The federal government’s $787 billion economic stimulus package saved an estimated 300,000 education jobs last year, but many of those positions are once again in jeopardy as that money dries up: In a recent survey conducted by the American Association of School Administrators, school leaders said they believe school budget cuts will be noticeably more significant for 2010-11 than they were in the previous two years.
Finding a bright spot amid all the bleak news isn’t easy. But there are some reasons for hope.
For one thing, schools still had at least $15 billion in formula-based stimulus money remaining to be spent as of press time—and spending this money wisely could pay dividends down the road. In this special Educator Resource Center, we’ve collected the best advice we’ve published recently to help you make the most of what precious few resources you might still have.
—The Editors