Schools To Get More Money

RAISES, BONUSES IN GUIDELINES

— Northwest Arkansas schools will get millions of federal dollars to spend on teachers and other school employees, state education officials announced Wednesday.

The money, part of the $10 billion federal Education Jobs Fund, can pay for existing salaries, new hires, rehires or raises and bonuses, according to a memo from the Arkansas Department of Education.

The state first learned about the money several months ago, said Julie Johnson Thompson, spokeswoman for the department.

“We had to wait for guidelines from the federal government before we could release the funds,” Thompson said Wednesday. “We finalized those guidelines this morning.”

According to the state memo, schools will get about $193 per student — more than $2.5 million each for the area’s biggest districts.

The money has to be spent by Sept. 30, 2012, and can be used to pay for expenses back to Aug. 10, the memo states.

The bill was signed in to law Aug. 10.

Arkansas Senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor and Rep. Mike Ross, all Democrats, voted for the final version of the bill.

“I supported passage of the Education Jobs Fun because our children are our greatest resource, and I do not believe that they should have to shoulder the burden of an economic recession,” Lincoln said in a Sept. 14 news release. “I know that an additional investment in our education budget will be a tremendous help to schools seeking to address their critical needs.”

Third District Rep. John Boozman, a Rogers Republican who defeated Lincoln in this year’s Senate election, voted against the final version of the bill, according to the federal website that tracks congressional activity.

The cost of the bill, which also includes money for Medicaid, will be $16 billion over 10 years, Sara Lasure, a spokeswoman for Boozman, said in an e-mail.

“Congressman Boozman believes we need to cut spending across the board and this bill is not helping that goal,” Lasure said.

Representatives Marion Berry and Vic Snyder, both Democrats, were absent for the final vote.

School Plans

Now school districts have to decide how to spend the money.

“We didn’t want to get everybody all excited until we knew what was going to happen,” said Kathy Hanlon, treasurer for the Rogers School District.

Hanlon said one possible use would be to help pay for academic facilitators who were paid for in part with stimulus money.

The stimulus money runs out next year, and administrators have been examining ways to make up for its absence, Hanlon said.

The academic facilitators work with teachers to help them with strategies for teaching math and literacy.

Louise Standridge, principal at Bellview Elementary School, said she hopes to keep her literacy facilitator and add a math facilitator.

The literacy facilitator started writing lessons for kindergartners, and helps teachers participate in district initiatives, Standridge said.

“It has made a huge difference,” she said. “Something I remember Michael Jordan saying is ‘Everybody needs a coach.’”

Lynn Marzoni is an elementary school counselor and president of the Education Association of Rogers. She said the Arkansas Education Association lobbied with the National Education Association in favor of the jobs fund.

She said the best use of the money may be to pay teachers for extra work, such as after-school tutoring or Saturday school.

She said a pay raise would be the best option, but that it could be problematic because the district would have to find a way to sustain the raise once the federal money is gone.

Ashley Siwiec, a spokeswoman for the Rogers School District, said school officials will discuss possibilities for the money at the Dec. 14 meeting of the Rogers School Board.

The Bentonville School District expects to receive nearly $2.6 million, district officials said.

“Clearly, this is very much like the stimulus dollars we received a year ago,” said Gary Compton, district superintendent. “It is designed to put it on the streets and give it out as soon as possible.”

Officials do not yet know how the money will be spent, but could use it to give bonuses to employees, Compton said.

“The key to us, is to provide an opportunity to award employees,” Compton said. “We just need to find a way to do it fairly.”

Galen Havner, principal at Central Park Elementary School, said he likes the idea of giving bonuses.

“The district has had great test scores in recent years,” Havner said. “This would be an award for a job well done.”

Boosts, Bonuses

Caleb Rose, a research associate in the office for Education Policy at the University of Arkansas, said the money could be an opportunity for school districts to try something new.

“It may be the time to see how bonuses affect performances,” said Rose. “I think that would be a good way to use the funds.”

There is a lack of research supporting or disproving merit pay affects performance, Rose said. The federal money may be a way to see if merit pay works.

Rose said the money also could be used to retain employees or hire back laid-off employees in districts struggling economically.

Kathy Deck, director for the Center of Business and Economic Research at the university, said school districts have been waiting for the money for a long time.

The goal of the money is to reduce unemployment and massive lay-offs in state and local government, but Arkansas has not seen the same economic impact on education as other states, Deck said.

Deck said the money is a good thing for the local community but she does not expect to see a boost from it.

“These are funds that have been announced and waited for,” Deck said. “The boost has already been felt.”

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