Kentucky will receive more than $300 million in added funding for Title I and IDEA, as reported in the press yesterday. Kentucky will also receive more than $650 million of "fiscal stabilization" funding, and some smaller amounts beyond that.
Higher education will get part of the $650+ million to restore state funding to the 2007-08 level for this current school year and the next two. Looking at the Budget of the Commonwealth, I think that will take about $50 million a year, or $150 million total.
P-12 will get the rest. First, any cuts to "the State’s primary elementary and secondary funding formulae" will be restored. Then the remaining money will be distributed according to each district's proportion of Title 1 funding. Again, the money will be available for this school year and the next two.
I've posted a fuller list of education funding for Kentucky here. To read the bill itself, I recommend downloading the full conference committee version of the bill here.
Jefferson County Public Schools superintendent Dr. Berman and Congressman John Yarmuth announced yesterday that JCPS will get over $52M for Title 1 and IDEA. This is money that must go to those specific programs. The stimulus act upheld IDEA law which is very specific about not using these funds to supplant or supplement other funding. It must be used for IDEA Part B only, which is great news!
ReplyDeleteAs a board member of non-profit organizations that address the needs of students with learning disabilities and their families, I hope that the school districts will work with all organizations as a plan is put in place to use this funding to improve the academic outcomes of students who are served by IDEA.