After the U.S. House of Representatives passed its version of the economic stimulus package last Wednesday, K-12 school districts and colleges and universities had reason to hope.
Almost one week later, that hope has been replaced by uncertainty. As part of the $819 billion measure the House passed on Jan. 28, more than $20 billion targeted the repair, renovation, modernization and construction of K-12 schools and higher education facilities. Then came the U.S. Senate version of the stimulus package.
A revised version of the Senate bill announced this past weekend contained no modernization funding. This is a stark contrast to an earlier Senate bill, which called for $14 billion for school modernization, $3.5 billion for higher education modernization and $1 billion for education technology. It’s hard to fathom how the Senate went from $18.5 billion to zero, but that’s the situation facing President Barack Obama and his economic team.
It was hard not to get excited a couple weeks back when school repairs and modernization became a focus of the economic stimulus package. I thought education funding could help ease the deferred maintenance backlogs and budget shortfalls I constantly hear about when I talk to managers in K-12 school districts and colleges and universities. Then, just like that, the rug gets pulled from under managers’ feet.
Before the final bill reaches President Obama’s desk, the House and Senate have to reconcile their differences. Obama talked about how he hopes the Senate reconsiders slashing all of the education dollars from its version of the bill. From someone who always hears about modernization and repair projects that never get off the ground or maintenance that must be deferred due to a lack of funds, I couldn’t agree more.
How would the education funding change the way you manage your facilities?