Federal money for education will continue to flow into California, with some caveats, even if the federal government’s spending authority runs out late Monday.The big ticket federal education programs in California – $1.8 billion a year for low-performing schools and $1.4 billion a year for special education – will be unscathed, according to a memorandum from the U.S. Department of Education. Those programs, along with grants for Career and Technical Education, would be deemed “a necessary exception” to a spending halt and would receive their scheduled Oct. 1 funding distribution even if the government shuts down at midnight Eastern time, the federal department said.
Less clear is the potential impact on the California Department of Education itself, which is scheduled to receive $166 million in federal funds for operations in 2013-14, primarily for salaries, said Edgar Cabral, a fiscal and policy analyst with the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office. The federal money, which makes up 77 percent of the department’s $214 million operating budget, is distributed in July and October, said Cabral, which means the state department already received a significant chunk of the salary funding. But if the federal government shuts down, the October funding for payroll could be temporarily stalled, depending on the distribution date.
“There wouldn’t necessarily be a problem at least in short term, but if (the shutdown) goes on for a longer period of time, it could be a problem,” Cabral said.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson said that the impact on California
