Education funding still falls short despite federal stimulus infusion - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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That was the sentiment of an eight-member panel of training and government experts gatherecd by the South Florida Business Journal to examine howthe $787 billion federal stimulus package is impactin g the region’s education and workforce trainingb sectors. The panel marked the third in theBusiness Journal’w ongoing stimulus series, aimed at tracking and analyzingb the flow of money from the American Recoverg and Reinvestment Act into South Florida. Florida’s Legislature was the only one nationallyu to request a federal waiver that allowed it to take mone from education and replace it with stimulua dollars while other states used stimulus dollar to augmentthe budget.
The situation concernex paneliststate Sen. Eleanor “We are not starting at the starting The school district in Broward Countuy and those throughout the state are startinyg behind thestarting line,” Sobel “They have had problems for years and they are all Veteran educator Robert Parks, a member of the Browardd County School Board, said, “Many of the largew urban districts in the natio n are afraid of one thing, which is basically a bait and switcb with those dollars.” What’s even more worrisom e to some experts is that the stimulus moneyg will eventually run out.
“I’m reallhy concerned about in threes years; what’s going to said José Vicente, president of ’s North Campus. “Thixs is a Band-Aid.” He said the college’ operating budget was cut $22 million while the stimulusa money wasonly $13 million. Parks said Browarxd County’s school system has cut $1.4 billiohn from its construction budget in addition to furloughinfg 700 teachers and51 “We’ve closed all of our schoop offices for the summer. We don’t have summer schoool anymore,” Parks said. would have been looking at cuttingh its budget byabout $30 million without $12 millioj in stimulus funds, said Dorothy K.
Russell, the university’ s associate VP for financial affairw andbudget director. The university cut 30 positionsand “has we not had the stimulus dollars it could have been much more George Hanbury, executive VP and COO of , said the $1.3 billion in stimulus funds given to the statre relieved pressure on the Legislature to further reduce support for Florida Resident Access Grantws (FRAG), a key source of moneg for students, but he pointed out that the grantss used to be $3,000 a year for students and are now The amount is important to students, who find enrollmen caps at state universities and turn to NSU and othedr private institutions.
He also said that universities are workinyg together to apply for federal stimulus NSU has a collaborative proposal with and FAU fora $50 millionm research building with wet labs, business incubatot space and offices for the U.S. Geologicakl Survey, which is helping overseee Everglades restoration. “We have shovel-ready projects we have submitteds to the Governor and in the next 60 days we couldput 1,0009 people to work,” Hanbury said. The competition for thesd typesof projects, though, is fierce. FAU is gettingy about $12 million in direct infusion from the federallstimulus package, but the university also is seeking money from the for labs and instruments, Russell said.
Apriol was the month to submi applications and the results are expecterdby September. The strongest flow of money, so far, appears to be for programs that help the jobless asthe state’s unemploymentr rate has hit 10.2