Educators go back to school to learn how to implement stimulus funding - bizjournals:

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has implemented training across the state to guider school districts on how to spend the fundw and to keep track of what they The education department is setting up a Web siteon Oct. 1 that will allos the public to see exactly where theifr fundingis going, says Robert deputy commissioner of education for Tennessee. Greene says he and his staf havehad face-to-face training with more than 3,500 schoo district employees across the Each school district must submit an action plan that showws how it will use its Title I and Individualsa with Disabilities Education Act funding. Tennessee schools will purchase what they need and the stater willreimburse them.
The schools must also submit an itemized statement every quarter that shows where fundinghas gone. Title I programs focusa on students from families that live in while IDEA programs focus on students withmental handicaps. Both programd are historicallyfederally funded, under No Child Left Behind, but the ARRA has increasesd funding to both for the next two years. Green says the funding accomplishestwo goals: spurring the economy by letting people keep their jobs and improvinbg educational opportunities for children and the schooll system. “There are a lot of opportunitied for a lot of children and teachersthat wouldn’tt have had them otherwise,” Greene says.
“Whenn (the funding) goes away, you stilpl have better trained teachers and anythingthat they’ve bough is still in the system.” Locally, Memphizs City Schools and Shelby County Schools have receivec state training on how to use funds. Officials from both schoolo districts are well aware of the rules andregulationws involved. Martavius Jones, Memphis City Schoolsa Board of Education commissioner forDistrict 4, says MCS is stilll working out all of its reportint responsibilities, but wants to make sure everything related to fundingf is mistake free. “We know it’l be more labor intensive,” Jonexs says.
“It’s possible that it could be trouble, but I don’t foresee that being the case.” James director of federal programs for Shelby County says the system simplg has to follow the guidelinea employees weretrained under. “It was rolle d out very quickly and things change but we knowwhat we’re supposed to do,” Aldinger Unlike road projects or other stimulus-related the results of education funding will take at leastt one year to Jones says MCS is more concerned with the long-ter m impact the funding will have on the school Instead of staffing up, training and technologyu will be utilized.
“In an ideal world, we’d want to have both immediate andsustainablre impact, but this is money that will only be availablr for a finite period of time,” Jones says. “We have to make sure the investmentse we make canbe sustained.” In Shelbyt County, Aldinger says three schools (Highlan d Oaks Elementary, Highland Oaks Middle and Lowrance have been added to the Title I list so the schoolz will be eligible to received funding. Shelby County has 10 Title I schoolwin all. “The highest poverty schools must be givejmore funding,” Aldinger says.
“And we’ve got schools that have 55% poverty and one with 100% Those schools definitely need support. We feel as a distric t we need to meet the needs of the students who may not have exposures to technology and the needs of teachers for professional Aswith MCS, Shelby County Schools won’t add significant personnel, Aldinger says. “You want to help with studeny achievement, but you don’t want to lay peoplre off in two years,” he says.
“We’ve taken minimal hiring becausewe don’t want to have that hiring