CTs stimulus, higher ed layoffs & tuition tax credits
The WRAs Paul Hughes reports on the Nutmeg share of the stimulus:
There is $302.1 million in highway funding and another $137.5 million for mass transit. The package also provides $68.5 million for improvements to drinking water and wastewater systems.
The state is also receiving $133 million for special education and $97.1 million for disadvantaged students. And there is $4.8 million for buying computers and technology training for teachers.
The package also provides more Pell grants for college students. An additional 30,000 families are expected to qualify for a $2,500 tax credit for college tuition.
The college tuition tax credit is interesting. A month or two ago I read that, along with the credit card companies, the universities were one of the next few big meltdowns coming because they fund operations with endowment income. And to some extent that must've been true.
I've seen headlines in the past week about both Yale and Harvard discussing layoffs. I'm assuming they're harbingers for tertiary education nationwide. So maybe this stimulus will stave off some of those layoffs and help some kids stay in school?
Tim White
2 comments:
It's not the amount of money that's spent on education, it's how effectively spent that counts.
Higher teacher costs don't translate to better education, they simply attract more people that are more interested in the money.
At the 2-24 meeting between the town council & boe, Mr. Altieri said in so many words - there's an assumption that with less money the kids will get less of an education. He's says that's not true and that teachers will do their very best even with less money. He went on to say we need to set our priorities - look at what we want to keep & what we can do without.
So let's see how he votes on the final budget for the boe - will he stick to his words or is he just blowing hot air?
Post a Comment