Monday, February 22, 2010

Sacramento school districts used stimulus funds to pay teachers - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Sacramento school districts used stimulus funds to pay teachers - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee



Kwame Dwumfuoh started classes at Elk GroveUnified School District's new Eagle Academy in August in silence. The 7-year-old didn't talk or socialize with his classmates, and he didn't eat most foods.
Now Kwame speaks and plays with his friends, and he has a newfound affinity for tortilla chips,cereal and the occasional chicken burger.
He is flourishing in a school for students withautism spectrum disorders that Elk GroveUnified started with $1.8 million in federal stimulus dollars. The money also paid for programs for emotionally disturbed students at three other campuses.
Nearly $300 million has poured into five Sacramento-area districts since President Barack Obama authorized $100 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds for the nation's schools last year.