Posted on 09/13/2005 8:38:05 AM PDT by WestTexasWend
AUSTIN (AP) - Texas schools won't get federal emergency funds to pay for additional teachers and textbooks to accommodate students displaced by Hurricane Katrina, according to a memo released by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Texas schools will need an estimated $450 million to educate the anticipated influx of students. Officials had hoped those costs would be covered by grants from FEMA because Texas has been included in the disaster declaration.
But, according to a FEMA memo sent to state officials Saturday, Texas schools will be eligible for reimbursement for temporary classroom buildings, mental health counselors and school computers. Hiring additional teachers and the purchase of books is not eligible "at this time," according to the memo.
Texas officials are still hoping other federal money will be available to them to cover a major cost to schools handling students from the disaster. "This is just the FEMA relief part, this is not the whole picture," said Gov. Rick Perry's spokesman, Robert Black. "We fully expect the U.S. Department of Education to pay for the costs of educating the thousands of new students Texas is going to have in public schools. That is the request we have in to the federal government."
At least 372,000 students have been displaced by Hurricane Katrina, and there are no clear answers about where the money will come from to educate them, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said Monday.
In a letter to the U.S. Department of Education, Texas Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley anticipated spending about $7,500 per student for the current school year. That would amount to more than $450 million in needed funding to cover the costs of educating an estimated 60,000 school-age evacuees.
A spokesman for U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said his office is continuing to work with FEMA and the U.S. Department of Education to find available funds for Texas schools.
"This is an unprecedented event; no state has ever taken in a quarter of a million people virtually overnight, including schoolchildren," said Cornyn spokesman Don Stewart. "So we need to look at different ways of doing things so that Texas isn't left with the costs of their good deed."
Neeley also requested waivers for several federal requirements, including a federal law that prohibits homeless students from being segregated from the general school population; flexibility for districts in assigning students to campuses; and sharing student records.
"The presence of so many students removed from their regular schools poses serious challenges for Texas at both the state and local levels," Neeley wrote in the letter. "Obviously, enrolling and educating thousands of evacuees will significantly impact state and local budgets."
Both the Dallas and Houston school districts have begun reviewing applications to hire additional teachers. By Friday, more than 28,000 displaced students had already enrolled in Texas schools and the number was going up daily, said Debbie Graves Ratcliffe, spokeswoman for the Texas Education Agency.
BS. 300 kids added to my kid's HS. His English teacher moved to full time speech to handle the overflow. He get's a NO teacher in her place. NO is dead last in testing for public schools, correct? Not happy one little bit.
Send the bill to Louisiana.
1. Their students get a better education in Texas than they did in LA.
2. The cost per student is probably LOWER in Texas than it was in LA so it could actually be a cost savings to the LA taxpayers.
3. If LA won't pay us for educating their students, then send the bill to the US Dept of Education.
They'll get the money.
Now I understand why my Conservative Congressman voted against the $52 billion. He wanted an oversight committee to make sure the money went to the proper things.
"In a letter to the U.S. Department of Education, Texas Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley anticipated spending about $7,500 per student for the current school year. That would amount to more than $450 million in needed funding to cover the costs of educating an estimated 60,000 school-age evacuees."
$7500 per student?
For a class of 30 ... 7 500 * 30 = 225 000
So they could afford to hir three full time teachers at $40,000 each and have $100,000 left over for overhead.
That must be some fine education.
/sarcasm
A few days ago, my sister was saying she thought this might happen. We live in Florida, but she and her husband decided to send their "charity" donation to Texas or a particular county that were accommodating evacuees, as she figured they'll be the ones bearing the brunt of the expenses.
Looks like she was right.
The looting continues.
I don't understand. Take the money that was going to pay for those kids education in LA and give it to TX. I'm sure it won't pay for all of it since LA doesn't seem to be very serious about education, but it's a start.
If FEMA were to gut its budget by running a school system in Texas, the liberal MSM would be screaming bloody murder when FEMA had no funds to help victims in, say, the Carolinas when the latest hurricane hits.
Then again, the liberal MSM is in full "Gotcha!" mode and will scream bloddy murder no matter what.
"I don't understand. Take the money that was going to pay for those kids education in LA and give it to TX. I'm sure it won't pay for all of it since LA doesn't seem to be very serious about education, but it's a start."
I'm sure the schools will get the federal per student/per day allowance. What FEMA is saying is they won't do more than the Feds normally do per student.
The reason this is a concern is that most of the education budgets in most counties comes not from the Federal government but from local property taxes.
Suggesting that the US Dept. of Education is responsible for paying for the education of students is as wrongheaded as saying FEMA is a first responder for disasters such as hurricanes.
I say chill, people. This article was titled to inflame people.
I'm sure the schools will get reimbursement ("impact aid), just not from FEMA funds. The Texas governor as much as says that but you have to read down to the middle of the article to find it.
These evacuees are still being shuffled and re-setteld all over the place in small groups, so it's way too early to start casting mud about which school districts are going to be most impacted. City schools here are way under-utilized anyway because most people with a choice send their kids to private school.
And yet the education pimps are forever demanding more more more money.
"3. If LA won't pay us for educating their students, then send the bill to the US Dept of Education."
If Louisiana is not bankrupt already they may be soon.
By getting even more from "Robin Hood."
and blanco gets off scott free.
texas should bus them all back to la. shreveport, alexanrdria, monroe, lafayette, and lake charles could handle them.
Actually the US Dept of Education should be defunded and eliminated altogether, but that isn't going to happen is it. However, if the State of Texas incurs the cost of educating Louisiana residents displaced by the hurricane and then Louisiana refuses to pay said costs, then the federal gov't would be the next recourse (and it could divert funds it would otherwise have sent to Louisiana to pay for it if necessary).
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