On August 21st Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) Superintendent Del Burns made the following comments regarding WCPSS’s use of Federal stimulus funds (For video or transcript):
It’s fiscally irresponsible to use short-term funds to pay for recurring expenses, all the while hoping that replacement funds will arrive. To me, that is not an acceptable strategy. That’s digging a hole for our future that we cannot see our way out of. We continue to strive to strike a balance with the use of these funds to preserve positions, add positions while bracing for the inevitable loss of these funds in the future.
Yesterday WRAL and NBC17 reported on how WCPSS is actually spending the $46 million in stimulus money. NBC 17 reports federal stimulus money will “help save or create” 558 jobs in a two year period. The money will be used to help fund:
- 180 teaching positions
- 280 instructional support positions
- 98 teacher assistant positions.
So much for all the talk about fiscal responsibility. The vast majority of this money is Title I money, funds used for students and services for students with disabilities or special needs. Curiously, seventy percent of the funded positions are for non-teaching positions. The teacher assistant positions are most likely new positions.
As Mr. Burns knows, federal funding for these positions will run out after 2011. Where will the money come from to replace federal funds? Irresponsible? Yes, but WCPSS is accepts it anyway. The lure of federal money makes school districts do strange things.
What’s the definition of an addict?
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