Last week the White House reacted to another report that the stimulus saved or created 30,000 jobs in the private infrastructure sector. Even if that number seems a little low, it makes sense that the stimulus is creating/saving far more jobs in education that the private sector.
From the GAO report on stimulus spending through August:
More than three quarters of the federal outlays has been provided through the increased Medicaid Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) and the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF) administered by the Department of Education.One possible reason why the stimulus hasn't created more private sector jobs is that it has largely been a public sector stimulus. Here's a graphic breakdown of stimulus spending from the spring. You can see the percentages are pretty much the same:
Throwing more money at a failing education system is not a stimulus. I think the employees I have had to lay off will be thrilled they get to starve, pay more future taxes and watch their kids attend schools that need major over hall.
If nothing else, I hope this increase in funding will increase the number of students who know how to spell overhaul.
At least there are no individual words misspelled. Spell checkers in browsers are really helping.
I would like to know where these education jobs are. I finished a teacher certification program in Maryland where every school district cut back hard in hiring new teachers. Most of the positions that would have gone to people like myself this school year went instead to teachers working in administrative, teacher support positions. Those I have talked to at my university, where I got my Masters, told me that many students who finished student teaching internships and certification programs in May have not been able to find jobs. You can say that there are a quarter million education jobs, but at least in my neck of the woods it's not at all being borne out in hiring of new teachers. The numbers truly belie how few persons were hired by school systems for the 2009-2010 school year.
These are jobs "saved", not jobs "created". That means that 250,000 teachers who would have been out of a job got to keep it instead.
and how did they determine that?
Perhaps I should have been more clear. I wasn't suggesting these were jobs "created". To the contrary, many jobs were "eliminated" and the displaced workers were used to fill the classroom and other teaching jobs that normally open up when a previous employee retires or leaves. I never said anything about job creation, just refilling of already-existing jobs that have gone vacant.
How exactly can any administration predict 'jobs saved'? They either know the exact figures or they don't. Whenever I hear a '250,000' round figure like this, I know it's nothing but a wild a$$ guess.
I was really worried about the stimulus dollars for education. Here in Boston, the teachers union refused to take cuts to avoid layoffs, when so many employees in other sectors agreed to take paycuts to protect themselves and co-workers.
I wish we could somehow reel in the public dollars (my money) spent on municipal pensions, health care plans, and annual pay increases for municipal workers that are out of line with the rest of the workforce. Until then, I will be very skeptical of stimulus spending. It feels like we are throwing money (my money) at old problems.
Till this recession, I have been pro-labor. But the recession has changed everything and has called for sacrifice. Most of us have made it. Unions have not. Until I get all the health, vacation, and retirement benefits that publicly fed employees get, or unless they get what I get, I will protest
Mary, I think you're looking at this a little differently than most teachers are. While I am not part of the teachers union (as a business teacher, I am certainly not pro-union), the strength of the union determines the outcomes. I currently pay $5400 per year for my family's health insurance (the district does not pay any portion), I receive 1 day of leave per month (sick, personal, professional, etc.), I pay my own way to conferences, seminars and other professional development (including further education) without the possibility of reimbursement. My "annual pay increases" have not happened in two years - our district instituted a pay freeze - AND we were told a month ago that next year we will be seeing a pay reduction. Add to this that, in nearly any other district around me, I would be making between 30 and 60% more money. Let me be the first to say that I certainly "feel" the sacrifice.
As a teacher in the state of Colorado, I'd also like to know where these "created" jobs are located. The district where I teach enacted a pay freeze, reduced full-time teachers by roughly 20 faculty within the district, raised the average class size from 21 to 32 and just got done telling us that we're likely to see a pay reduction next year. Guess those stimulus dollars just aren't translating outside the Beltway...
The Obama administration says spending aimed at boosting the economy has
created or saved 250,000 teaching or other education jobs this year.
Unfortunately, it appears that many of those jobs are being given to cheap
imported labor. The Recovery School District in the New Orleans, Louisiana
area has been hiring H-1B school teachers from the Philippines. The school
district used a third party bodyshop called Universal Placement
International (UPI) to import teachers by using H-1B visas. More disturbing, they did this after laying off 27,000 teachers last year. Were those teachers called back? No. How exactly is
this helping Americans get off the unemployment rolls?
Here in Michigan those figures are a big bunch of BULLCRAP!
Our blond Canadian BIMBO of a governor is cutting education by $1.60 per pupil leaving our schools without the money to keep up our current level of education.
Apparently Huge police complexes, Gambling at horse racing tracks and other pet projects are more important to her than the education of our children.
Guess she is trying to prove to everyone she is ready to move onto Washington where that kind of behavior is totally acceptable!
This recession is the result of private greed on the part of lender and borrowers. The American people have nobody to blame for it but themselves. We can say it is the government but we are the reason that the government is a revolving door between large industries and Capital Hill. We complain but we do nothing. The reason we do nothing is that we don't have the slightest idea were to begin. We know nothing of government, history, economics, etc. Most American men know more about football than how do defend themselves against corporate interests and Most women know more about fashion or the best place to shop than foreign or domestic policy and how it effects the US economy. I include myself in this of course. The bottom line is, we can blame Obama or Bush or Bank of America or AIG but they are not the problem- they are a symptom of the problem. The problem is We The People and our infantile, domesticated house pet, suburbanite or hip hop culture. (These cultures are ultimately the same, just two flavors of consumerism). We need to stop blaming everybody but ourselves. This really is on US.
Amen. As a high school Social Studies teacher who hasn't seen a raise in years and who's class sizes continue to increase while benefits are cut and money for curriculum and training is cut, I'm just glad I still have a job. I work really hard to educate my students, but most of them just don't care. Add their numbers to the number of drop outs and move them all into adulthood in 5 to 10 years and you'll understand why the general citizenry's ignorance compounds exponentially. Too many of them are intellectually lazy, relying a peer group consensus and generational bias, bigotry, and prejudice as a substitute for insight and knowledge. I can only keep trying to help my community as best I can to raise their consciousness and the quality of their lives even just a little bit. I still have hope.
otherhand08:
Absolutely RIGHT ON! If an incumbent isn't worth my getting off my butt to campaign for, they're not getting my vote. Period. We need to throw every last one of them out and start over. Personally, I would like to see a constitutional amendment enacting term limits.
Unfortunately the teacher's unions have a strangle-hold economically on the U.S. school public education system. They hold the public hostage to their selfish demands, and have for a long time, so it's been very expensive for "John Q. Public."
The lobbying for education wants in our government is pervasive and powerful, so the NEA and teachers unions get what they want. It has been "Sold" for so long it has become a "sacred cow." With so many friends in high congressional positions, and a large pressuring lobbying staff, it is little wonder when it comes to government stimulus funds, or government cash infusions through legislation they get a big portion to use as they see fit. Conveniently enough, teachers can bill the public in other ways to get additional funds through local sales tax options, etc., at the local levels. Education and teaching here has become a position of steady income for a very few that features a strongly armored economic defense! This industry, needs to become much more efficient so we can afford them!
It could be said in a sense that the fact some "people" who are entrenched in the education industry, (an entirely tax-supported entity and activity) can continue to garner public cash disproportionately at the expense of the rest of usis good! Even if that "good" is only that at least this one narrow segment of society can eat well and survive!
The main trouble now is our stimulus money has gone to primarily only more tax-supported industries and activities, or directly to local governments! These economic entities have have no "Legs" to earn and support a major portion American society! Somebody has to do real work and actually produce goods and services to support the tax supported entities that have been getting the stimulus funds!
Obama and his people have done it backwards and upsidedown! They have proven without a doubt that government people are important to them to remain powerful, while the productive rest of society are abandoned..
A serious and about to be fatal error...
The scariest part of our economic situation is our government while destroying our manufacturing base, is also guaranteeing it will not recover! If a stimulus was justified in the first place more help should have been given to smaller businesses who can employ people and add to our overall production of money and the GNP!
Even more government destruction is about to be been unleashed at the wrong time:
The Government Health Care takeover-Federalization and then Cap and Trade, which iw heavy taxation and regulation of our energy industry. This is a complete farce, unnecessary, scientifically unsound, and injurious to earning of sll small industries and families.
One wonders why our government wages war on its own citizens!