Edujobs Falters, but Is it Dead?
Even though the $23 billion education jobs bill faltered yesterday in Congress, proponents of this lifeline to the nation's public schools aren't giving up.
Yesterday, House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wis. canceled a committee meeting intended to add the $23 billion to the war-spending bill. Supporters have already encountered trouble getting enough votes in the Senate. And, apparently, Democrats are privately grumbling that President Obama isn't more involved in making the case for this money, which public school advocates say is desperately needed to forestall draconian teacher layoffs, according to this Associated Press story.
But the National Education Association's government relations director Kim Anderson said the education jobs bill simply got caught up in deficit politics, which are playing out today as the House considers a package of tax extenders involving jobless benefits and some tax cuts. "It's just a delay in time line," she told me today, noting
Yesterday, House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wis. canceled a committee meeting intended to add the $23 billion to the war-spending bill. Supporters have already encountered trouble getting enough votes in the Senate. And, apparently, Democrats are privately grumbling that President Obama isn't more involved in making the case for this money, which public school advocates say is desperately needed to forestall draconian teacher layoffs, according to this Associated Press story.
But the National Education Association's government relations director Kim Anderson said the education jobs bill simply got caught up in deficit politics, which are playing out today as the House considers a package of tax extenders involving jobless benefits and some tax cuts. "It's just a delay in time line," she told me today, noting
