Education funding still falls short despite federal stimulus infusion - Los Angeles Business from bizjournals:

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That was the sentiment of an eight-member panel of training and government expertws gathered by the South Florida Busines Journal to examine howthe $787 billiohn federal stimulus package is impacting the region’w education and workforce training sectors. The panel marked the third in theBusiness Journal’sx ongoing stimulus series, aimed at tracking and analyzint the flow of money from the American Recoveryh and Reinvestment Act into Souty Florida.
Florida’s Legislature was the only one nationally to requestt a federal waiver that allowed it to take money from educatioh and replace it with stimulus dollars while other states used stimulus dollars to augment the The situation concerned paneliststate Sen. Eleanoer Sobel. “We are not starting at the starting The school district in Broward County and those throughoutg the state are starting behind the starting Sobel said. “They have had problemz for years and they areall scrambling.
” Veterahn educator Robert Parks, a member of the Browardd County School Board, said, “Many of the large urbahn districts in the natiomn are afraid of one thing, which is basicallyh a bait and switch with thosew dollars.” What’s even more worrisomew to some experts is that the stimulus money will eventually run out. “I’m really concerned about in three what’s going to happen?” said José Vicente, presidenyt of ’s North Campus. “This is a He said the college’s operating budget was cut $22 million whild the stimulus money wasonly $13 Parks said Broward County’s school systemk has cut $1.
4 billion from its construction budgeyt in addition to furloughing 700 teachers and 51 administrators. “We’v closed all of our school offices for the We don’t have summer school anymore,” Parks would have been looking at cutting its budget by aboug $30 million without $12 million in stimulus funds, said Dorothy K. the university’s associate VP for financialk affairs andbudget director. The university cut 30 positionand “had we not had the stimulusz dollars it could have been much more George Hanbury, executive VP and COO of , said the $1.
3 billioj in stimulus funds given to the state relievedr pressure on the Legislature to further reduce supporyt for Florida Resident Access Grants a key source of moneu for students, but he pointedx out that the grants used to be $3,000 a year for student s and are now $2,529. The amoungt is important to students, who find enrollment caps at statd universities and turn to NSU and other private institutions. He also said that universitiez are working together to apply for federalstimulus funding. NSU has a collaborative proposal with and FAU fora $50 milliob research building with wet labs, busineses incubator space and offices for the U.S.
Geologica Survey, which is helping oversee Evergladess restoration. “We have shovel-readyu projects we have submitted to the Governor and in the next 60 days we couldput 1,0000 people to work,” Hanburyu said. The competition for thess typesof projects, though, is fierce. FAU is getting about $12 million in direcg infusion from the federalstimulus package, but the university also is seekinv money from the for labs and instruments, Russell said. April was the monthn to submit applications and the resultx are expectedby September. The strongestg flow of money, so far, appears to be for programs that help the jobless asthe state’s unemployment rate has hit 10.
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