April 14, 2010
Harkin Introduces Bill to Keep Educators on the Job
The Keep Our Educators Working Act Will Create an Education Jobs Fund
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and of the Senate Appropriations panel that funds education initiatives, introduced the Keep Our Educators Working Act today. The bill will create a $23 billion Education Jobs Fund to help keep teachers, principals, librarians and other school personnel on the job as states face crippling budget shortfalls. Cosponsors of the measure so far include: Senators Begich (D-AK), Bingaman (D-NM), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Burris (D-IL), Dodd (D-CT), Durbin (D-IL), Gillibrand (D-NY), Lautenberg (D-NJ), Merkley (D-OR), Mikulski (D-MD), Murray (D-WA), Schumer (D-NY) and Stabenow (D-MI).
“This country is about to face a massive wave of layoffs in our schools and institutions of higher learning that could weaken our economic recovery and cause serious damage to our education system,” Senator Harkin said. “This bill is an investment in our kids, in our economy and in our future.”
The Keep Our Educators Working Act will create an Education Jobs Fund modeled after the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF) that was established in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the ‘Recovery Act’).
The SFSF is currently supporting more than 300,000 education jobs, such as teachers, principals, librarians, and counselors, and is widely credited with mitigating the impact of the recent recession. However, even with the SFSF, schools across the country have laid off workers, and the job outlook is worse for the 2010-2011 school year. Additional resources are needed to help states and districts avoid a “funding cliff” that would result in even more layoffs.
“Recent headlines make the case that two pillars of the American dream – a good job and a good