Friday News Roundup: Week of March 9-13

At Ed Money Watch, we discuss and analyze major issues affecting education funding. In our Friday News Roundup, we try to highlight interesting stories that might otherwise get overlooked. These stories emphasize how federal and state policy changes can affect local schools and districts.

Florida Seeks Hardship Waiver for Stimulus Funds

Substitute Teacher Applications Rise

South Carolina Governor Rejects Education Stimulus Money

Hard Times Make Hiring Easier

Florida Seeks Hardship Waiver for Stimulus Funds
Florida Governor Charlie Crist is seeking a hardship waiver from the U.S. Secretary of Education to allow his state to receive stimulus funds. Under current restrictions, Florida does not qualify for the funds. Language in the stimulus bill requires that recent state budgets maintained previous K-12 education spending levels over the past few years, which Florida has not been able to do. Though it is not yet certain whether Secretary Duncan will grant the state a waiver, Florida officials remain optimistic. They believe that Duncan is dedicated to helping cash-strapped states like Florida avoid layoffs and budget cuts to education programs. More here.

Substitute Teacher Applications Rise
Facing unemployment, many jobseekers typically turn to substitute teaching as a temporary source of income. Many school districts, however, are turning away new applicants. New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago – the nation’s three largest districts – are no longer accepting substitute applications. Chicago closed applications at 7,000, and Los Angeles closed at 6,500, noting that the remaining slots were intended to provide a cushion for teachers facing layoffs because of budget cuts. New York City has a pool of over 13,000 substitutes, and plans to reopen the application process sometime this spring. Urban and suburban districts are seeing the greatest influx of applications, but even some rural districts are turning applicants away. More here.

South Carolina Governor Rejects Education Stimulus Money
South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford is facing criticism from U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan for refusing $700 million in stimulus money that could help public schools and colleges avoid budget cuts and layoffs. The governor claims that the federal stimulus money will create more debt once it runs out, and refuses to accept it unless it can be used to pay off the state’s existing debt. South Carolina lawmakers in both the state and U.S. House of Representatives have criticized Sanford’s decision as political. Some pundits believe Sanford, a Republican, is positioning himself for a run at the presidency in 2012. More here.

Hard Times Make Hiring Easier
Even in the dismal economic climate, some colleges and universities are hiring new faculty members. Though many schools are freezing hiring and making cuts, a few have found that they have access to a highly talented applicant pool that might otherwise have eluded them. Public universities and some private liberal-arts colleges that did not rely heavily on investment income, and therefore are not facing the extreme budget cuts others are experiencing, have seen a marked increase in the number of applicants, many with outstanding credentials. This is in part because applicants who otherwise would only have considered big name schools are considering positions at schools they would have overlooked before. As a result of the deeper applicant pool, schools are able to make decisions based on many nuanced factors, including how applicants fit within a department and across a university. Their ability to retain these new hires once the job market improves is yet to be seen, but the colleges are confident that they will hold on to those that truly fit. More here.

Briefly Noted

• Potential layoffs in Los Angeles rekindle the debate over seniority.
• Arne Duncan advises states to spend quickly and keep careful records.