Edumoney Shell Games Again?
Fresh off his state's Race to the Top win, Rhode Island Gov. Donald L. Carcieri has plans to use his state's share of the $10 billion in education jobs funding to help plug budget holes in other areas, not to save education jobs, according to this Providence Journal story.
Does this sound familiar? It should ... states diverted much of the education funding in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to other purposes.
In Rhode Island, the state's chief, Deborah A. Gist, is none too happy with the plan, telling the Providence Journal that she, for one, argued that the money should be used "for its intended purpose," which is to prevent teacher layoffs.
So is this allowable? Well, technically, it would appear to be. The education jobs legislation says the money
