Superintendent Not Yet Sure How $32.9M Education Bill Will Flow Down to Newport

An emergency education bill passed by Congress last week could be instrumental in saving hundreds of educator jobs throughout Rhode Island for the 2010-2011 school year.

But how much will flow down to Newport has yet to be determined. Superintendent John Ambrogi said last week that the Rhode Island Department of Education has not yet informed school superintendents how the $32.9 million earmarked for the Ocean State will distributed, or when it will arrive.

With school doors opening in just three short weeks, there is a sense of urgency to find out, particularly since the funds are intended for hiring educators for this upcoming school year.

"I wish they had made their determinations in June, not August, before budgets were set," Ambrogi said. "Decisions were made without an understanding of our business and decision-making cycles."

Passed by Congress last Tuesday and signed into law by the president that same night, the emergency education bill provides $10 billion to support an estimated 160,000 education jobs nationwide. Another $16 billion was also included to help states fund Medicaid budgets.

The Department of Education estimates that the $32.9 million allocated for Rhode Island will save approximately 500 jobs. The money must be used for compensation and other benefits associated with hiring educators, and cannot be used for non-salary purposes or to pay for administration. While states are being urged to use the money for this school year, they technically have until September 2012 to distribute the funds.

Who gets the money in Rhode Island will depend on which distribution method is used.

The Department of Education has charged states with distributing the funds either through their primary funding formula or the one they use to distribute funds through Title 1—a federal program that serves public school students in poorer districts. Since Rhode Island's new funding formula doesn't go into effect until the 2011-2012 school year, there's a good chance the Title 1 formula will be used.

Using the Title 1 formula would mean Newport has an advantage in getting some of the money. While the City by the Sea doesn't serve the high number of students that other urban area school systems do–such as Providence, Pawtucket and Central Falls–Newport does have a sizable proportion of economically disadvantaged students.

"Title 1 is supportive of schools and districts that serve a lower socioeconomic level of students," Ambrogi said. "The majority of our students are on free or reduced lunch programs. We would get more money because we have more students living in poverty."

Ambrogi declined to estimate whether the amount Newport ultimately receives could be sufficient to return previously laid off teachers and administrative personnel to their jobs, or retain teachers in danger of losing their position because of the current fiscal crisis.

Most recently in June, the Newport School Committee voted to eliminate the positions of four paraeducators and two utility custodians, following the City Council's decision to cut the district's budget by $578,568.

In a call with reporters last week, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan called the bill "a financial lifeline for schools that are facing what might be the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression." He said it was pushed through to "avert a crisis this year."

"This money is intended to support jobs in the 2010-2011 school year," he said. "In some states, the school year is about to begin, so we have a huge sense of urgency to get this money out the door right away."

Duncan said his team will immediately start working to help states get their applications completed, and then approved ideally within two weeks of receipt.

Duncan's Assistant Secretary for Policies, Carmel Martin, said the money could get to the local level by early September.