The United States Department of Education (USDE) has released application and guidance documents for Education Jobs Fund program. The program provides $10 billion in assistance to States to save or create education jobs for the 2010-2011 school year. The program is expected to help retain or create at least 161,000 jobs. Eligible jobs include teachers, principals, custodians, librarians, bus drivers, and any others that provide educational and related services for early childhood, elementary, and secondary education. The funds may not be spent on administrative or curriculum costs.
Maryland is eligible to receive $179 million, which will fund an estimated 2,500 jobs. However, there are concerns about whether Maryland and other states can meet the program’s maintenance of effort (MOE) requirement due to recent cuts to community college funding. The program’s authorizing statute provides four options to meet its MOE requirements and USDE is committed to working with each state to make sure MOE is met.
The Governor of each state must apply for the funds by September 9. Each state may reserve up to 2 percent of its allocation for administration costs. The remaining portion of the allocation must be awarded to the local education authorities (LEAS) for use during the 2010-2011 school year. A state may allocate the funds to its LEAs either: (1) through the state’s primary elementary and secondary education funding formula; or (2) on the basis of the LEAs’ relative share of funds under Part A of its Title I funding.
