Every Thursday, REL-NEI highlights state-based resources, press releases, and news around the Northeast and Islands Region related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). For a listing of REL Issues & Answers Reports categorized under ARRA topics and domains, click here.
New Hampshire Releases Second ARRA Jobs Report
On October 20th, the New Hampshire Office of Economic Stimulus submitted its second jobs report to Governor John H. Lynch and members of the Executive Council, the Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee, and Leadership of the General Court.
Through the end of September, the Federal Jobs statistic is 3,007 FTE (full-time equivalent) jobs for the reporting period have been funded with ARRA funds in New Hampshire. Through October 7th, the Governor and Executive Council have approved ARRA-funded contracts and grants totaling about $407 million. The federal Recovery, Accountability, and Transparency Board reports that, including direct contracts, grants, loans, and entitlement payments, a total of $1.38 billion in ARRA funds will become available to recipients in New Hampshire.
Also on October 20th, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced that it will hold public meetings across the country to listen and learn from assessment experts and practitioners. The goals are two-fold: first, to gather technical input to inform the development of a Race to the Top Assessment Competition; and second, to enable states, who will be the competition applicants, and the public to participate in and learn from these events. The first meetings will be held in Boston on November 12th and 13th. Three sessions will focus on general assessments, high school assessments, and technology and innovation in assessments.
On October 15th, Education Week reporter Michele McNeil reported on the pressure districts are under to account for the first round of ARRA spending. ARRA earmarked about $100 billion for education, and the first quarterly spending reports are scheduled to be made public on October 30th. McNeil writes that “school districts are toiling over how every stimulus penny has been spent so far and how many jobs have been saved—numbers that will be scrutinized not just by the public, but by government auditors as well.”
On October 11th and 13th, NPR and The Boston Globe ran stories on how states were utilizing their ARRA education funds, and whether these uses were appropriate. Stimulus money from ED to states was intended to boost, rather than replace, state funding for schools and colleges. Yet some states have slashed education budgets anyway, according to the department’s inspector general. In a memorandum released on September 30th, the inspector general found over a dozen states inappropriately using stimulus dollars to replace education cuts, singling out Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut, in particular. In media reports, some states have said they thought themselves in full compliance with the wishes of ED and are perplexed by the allegations. Others say they simply don’t have the money to use stimulus funds as a supplement. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has warned states that if they cut education funding to below 2006 levels and use stimulus funds to make up the difference, he’ll exclude them from billions in “Race to the Top” funds.
For more information, visit these ARRA-related websites across the Northeast and Islands Region:
U.S. Department of Education
http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/recovery/index.html
State Recovery Sites
http://www.recovery.gov/?q=content/state-local-tribal-and-territorial-resources
State Education Agency Recovery Sites
Education Week’s “Schools and the Stimulus”
http://www.edweek.org/ew/collections/schools-stimulus/index.html
