Hire now, fire later. Schools flush with cash face a funding cliff in 2 years – By Juan Perez Jr & Lara Korte (Politico) / April 20, 2022
School hiring and wage hikes could spark cuts when federal funds expire.
States are awash in money — and facing pressure from the Biden administration and teachers unions to spend it on schools. But here’s the catch: lofty education promises made today may be seeding layoffs tomorrow.
Governors and superintendents are pushing to hire new teachers, raise salaries and pay bonuses to educators worn down by two years of the pandemic. And those workers are fighting for more pay, too. The Sacramento Teachers Union won salary bumps after an eight-day strike that ended this month. A three-week strike in Minneapolis got teachers and classroom assistants thousands of dollars in bonuses and wage increases.
School districts and administrators can tap the use-it-or-lose-it Covid relief money approved by Congress to address emergencies and attract in-demand workers like bus drivers and substitute teachers. But schools could face a “funding cliff” when federal monies run dry in September 2024. That’s made many of those same state and local education officials nervous about sustaining any ambitious pay boosts and hiring sprees once their budgets are no longer cushioned with federal cash.
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