Secretary of Education to push jobs bill in Seattle
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan will be in the Seattle area Friday to make the case for a $10 billion jobs bill for education that...
Seattle Times Eastside reporter
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan will be in the Seattle area Friday to make the case for a $10 billion jobs bill for education that, if passed, is expected to bring $208 million to Washington state.
The money would save 3,000 teacher jobs in Washington, Duncan said in a phone interview Thursday.
"This is an absolute critical two weeks," Duncan said of the urgency of passing the bill before school is back in session. "This is not something Congress can debate for two or three months." A version of the bill already has passed the House.
Duncan said 150,000 to 300,000 teacher jobs nationwide are threatened this fall by school-budget cutbacks because of the economy. The loss of so many jobs would be "devastating educationally, and it would be