An article in Saturday's Indianapolis Star indicates that the Lebanon Schools should be receiving $667,884 in federal stimulus money, which is processed through the state government. Sounds like great news, right? I started wondering right away what Dr. Taylor and his team might recommend to the board to make use of these funds!
Not so fast. If you read closely, you'll see that Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Bennett sent a letter with notification of the windfall, urging school corporations not to spend the money until the General Assembly makes budget decisions for the 2011-12 school year (that happens around December of this year). Red Flag alert! This means, in all likelihood, that Indiana will do with this federal money what they did with the first stimulus package: give the federal money with one hand, while reducing the amount schools get from the state by the same amount. This keeps education spending flat, makes Indiana's budget numbers look better (in case anyone down there plans to run for office), and lets Gov. Daniels take credit for distributing federal dollars.
I don't know what Lebanon will do, but I'm betting we won't go cashing that check just yet.
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