A federal education initiative is giving schools money to hire more staff.It's to save or add education jobs for the 2010-2011 school year.
That includes anyone from teachers to custodial staff.
It's all part of the federal government's Education Jobs Fund program.
The state of Iowa is getting ninety six million dollars and Minnesota will get nearly one hundred and seventy million.
Many school leaders know exactly how to spend that money.
Last year's education cuts forced schools all across Iowa to make cuts.
Ventura Elementary principal says, "I'm not sure there is a school in the state of Iowa that didn't reduce staff last year due to budget cuts."
But some of those staff are being re-hired thanks to the Education Jobs Fund.
“The federal government provided I believe 96 million dollars for the state of Iowa,” says Rodemeyer.
As a former teacher and coach Iowa Governor Chet Culver says he knows how important education is.
"The commitment our teachers and staff make to inspire our students day in and day out is being recognized at the federal level. I am grateful for the opportunity to apply for this funding to put thousands of educators back in the classroom," says Culver.
And Rodemeyer says that exactly what they are doing at Ventura.
The school district is getting a little more than fifty two thousand dollars.
“Our board has already committed to re-hiring a teacher in our elementary school. We had one class that was a larger class so we separated that class into two sections,” says Rodemeyer.
Because of this money Rodemeyer says his school can continue offering small class sizes.
“We feel it is very critical and we've always prided ourselves in small schools in Iowa and particularly this area, providing those class sizes with small numbers so teachers can give those kids the attention they need."
Securing funding is a difficult task for local districts.
This is a welcome surprise.
Looking at funding sources for education is really difficult in education today so this was a surprise. Nobody saw this coming from the federal government."
Rodemeyer tells me they have already re-hired their teacher.
Not every school district has decided what they are going to do with their money.
Many are waiting on exact direction from the Department of Education on when the money will be coming
This is one time money from the federal government.
To see how much your school is getting click on this link.
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