Redondo Beach Unified School District hopes for stimulus fund boost
The $10 billion infusion of federal funds intended to save 160,000 teachers’ jobs across the nation could allow the Redondo Beach Unified School District to alter plans to increase class sizes by enabling the district to hire more teachers. But as schools prepare to begin classes this Tuesday, much remains uncertain. The district must decide this week how many teachers to hire, despite not knowing how much money it will receive from the stimulus package or when the money will arrive. “Anything can happen, but we are planning for the money,” said Superintendent Steven Keller. “We are not necessarily spending the money.” The $26 billion federal stimulus package – which also provides $16 billion to states for Medicaid – was passed early this month by Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama on Aug. 10. But the funds must now pass through the state legislature’s hands. And that, as the district knows too well, could mean trouble. The legislature, attempting to meet a $19 billion budget gap, is nearly two months past the state’s legal deadline to adopt a budget. The legislature has passed drastic cuts to educational funding each of the last three years, forcing the…
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