$1 Billion in New Ed Money Made Possible by Other Ed Cuts

Of the $1 billion in allegedly new money for the K-12 Education Budget, $477 Million  is targeted for specific needs:

            $104 million for lowering class sizes in grades K-1

            $90 million for expanding Full Day Kindergarten

            $97 million for increasing instructional time

            $143 million for expanding the Learning Assistance Program

            $19 million for expending Transitional Bilingual programs

            $24 million for funding parent engagement coordinators

This is good use of additional money.  The “parent engagement coordinators” and “extended learning time” concepts were exceptionally useful in the Rogers H.S. of Spokane’s successful Student Improvement Grant endeavor.  The “Learning Assistance Program” and “Transitional Bilingual Program” target particularly vulnerable student populations with additional resources.  Money does matter!

It should also be noted that more than half of this “new money” that is targeting vulnerable student populations was made possible by $298 million in cuts to compensation for educators.  We need to keep that fact in mind, when discussing what to do next.