Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Federal jobs bill passed

As you no doubt saw, the House of Representatives passed the federal jobs bill yesterday in a special session (all of the Massachusetts House delegation voted in favor), and it was signed by President Obama. Of the $665 million allocated for Massachusetts, the Telegram reports that $75 million will go to state colleges, and $125 million to fully fund Ch. 70.
This is a bit different than I've heard elsewhere, that there was some question as to whether the local allocations would be along Ch. 70 or Title 1 lines. There are some pros and cons to either answer: Title 1 favors high-poverty (usually urban) districts and comes directly from the fed, but it's treated as a grant and so is subject to grant fees. Ch.70 is gets money to more districts, but has to pass town meetings for those with that form of government.
The last estimate I heard was a job per 1000 kids, but if indeed the Governor is fully funding Ch. 70, in Worcester, Ch. 70 was fully funded already.
I'll update as I know more!

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