Special Educators Fear Stimulus Funding Drop-off

One year after the stimulus package infused $11.3 billion into special education, countless jobs have been saved, but what will happen when the money runs out remains unclear.

Much of the $200 million in stimulus funding allocated to special education in Minnesota went toward saving special education teachers and assistants from the chopping block, officials say.

But the stopgap measure designed to at least maintain the status quo isn’t a long-term fix. The stimulus funding only runs through the next school year and no one knows where the money will come from beyond that.

Educators are dreading what they call “the cliff” when cuts built up from two years worth of extra funding could all come at once.

“Given that it’s temporary and will be going away, all of a sudden you’re in a situation where you haven’t adjusted your spending to the new revenue level that you have to live within,” one school official told Minnesota Public Radio. To read more click here.