BILLIONS MIGHT BYPASS FLORIDA SCHOOLS

Florida schools could miss out on $2.4 billion from the federal economic stimulus package because state lawmakers have cut spending on education the past two years. A $1 billion hole in the state education budget that starts July 1 was forecast this week because of declines in property tax collections. State officials had hoped the stimulus money would plug it. Now, local districts may be forced to raise property taxes as much as 10 percent, state Senate budget chief J.D. Alexander has predicted. The state has one last hope for the money: asking the federal Education Department to waive the bill's requirement that education spending not be below the 2006 level. But it is unclear how long that would take, what is involved and whether the request would be approved. An aide to Education Secretary Arne Duncan warned that states wouldn't get a blanket waiver if they didn't meet the provision. The aide didn't outline requirements for an exemption in detail. Florida is spending $8.5 billion in state money on public schools, about $1.3 billion less than it did in the 2006-07 budget year. "I really don't have anything concrete to tell you. I wish I did," said Alexander, R-Lake Wales. "I guess we'll wait for the governor to tell us the specifics of how he's going to make all this work." Gov. Charlie Crist, a Republican, drew the wrath of some of his partisan colleagues for supporting the Democratic-backed American Recovery Reinvestment Act, which they said is filled with wasteful spending and wouldn't deliver the immediate economic recovery promised. Crist said he hopes Florida's $11 billion share would prevent the need to raise taxes to plug up to a $6 billion spending gap in next year's budget. "We're evaluating what the final numbers are, and hopefully it will," he said in St. Petersburg on Friday. His office was unable to answer specific questions about the education waiver, although Crist said his good relationship with President Obama's administration made him confident that the state would ultimately receive the $2.4 billion in education money.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/state/content...lastimulus.html

"There really isn't a one-size-fits-all approach to this," said Jonathan Schnur, a top aide to Duncan. The agency plans to evaluate waiver requests on a case-by-case basis and will soon develop a "very efficient, quick process" to determine criteria guidelines. "It will focus essentially on the needs of kids and especially low-income students," he said. The state's congressional delegation, including Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, D-New Smyrna Beach, and both of its U.S. senators, Democrat Bill Nelson and Republican Mel Martinez, have promised to press the Education Department to grant the state a waiver. In a letter they sent Friday, Nelson and Martinez urged Duncan to evaluate all waiver applications quickly and prudently. "We hope that you will give serious considerations to states that only fail to meet this requirement because of their unusually high levels of funding in 2006, and to those which have been hit particularly hard by unemployment, foreclosures and other factors that affect families' well being," the two wrote. (Unusually high funding levels in 2006? Is that why Florida is near the bottom in education spending when compared to other states? Just asking.)

http://www.floridatoday.com/article/200902...WSFRONTCAROUSEL

http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJour...EAD05021409.htm

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20090...that_stimulates

http://www.wctv.tv/news/headlines/39580627.html

STIMULUS BILL SHOULDN'T PENALIZE STRUGGLING STATES

http://www.pnj.com/article/20090216/OPINION/902160301
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Thanks to Mark Pudlow for the clips and the leads.