Gov. Charlie Crist has appealed to Washington for help in salvaging Florida’s federal economic-stimulus money, which may be at risk because of state cuts in education funding.
A provision in the package approved by Congress last week requires states to maintain certain funding levels, in order to qualify for more education money. But there’s a waiver provision, and Crist hopes the U.S. Department of Education will take into consideration all the factors that have caused him and state legislators to cut state spending in the past two years.
Crist has taken a lot of flak from fellow Republicans for supporting President Obama’s stimulus package, even flying to Fort Myers last week to appear with Obama at a rally. The big economic package passed Congress last week over strong GOP opposition.
In a weekend letter to federal Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Crist asked the federal government to look at progress Florida children have made on tests — not just cuts legislators have made in budgets.
“Florida’s investment in education funding has yielded positive results and recognition, including Education Weekly’s ranking Florida 10th in the nation,” wrote Crist. “These dollars will allow us to continue providing a quality education for Florida’s 3.2 million K-20 students.”
He asked Duncan “for expediency in setting the parameters under which states would qualify for a waiver” to permit funding under the federal stimulus act. The department last week warned states that it would not be issuing blanket waivers but would evaluate each state’s efforts on the basis of how budget cuts affect children.
Source: tallahassee.com
