More Federal Funds For Schools?

By Bill Zeeble, KERA News

Dallas, TX –

School districts, including Dallas and Fort Worth, may have another shot at federal education money after Texas rejected $700 million of it last week. KERA's Bill Zeeble reports.

President Obama will ask Congress for an additional one and a third billion dollars of so-called Race to the Top money in his next budget, slated for February. School districts can directly apply from some of this money.

In the first round of $4-plus billion dollars for education, states decided, and last week, Texas Governor Rick Perry rejected it. He said there were too many strings attached, and was backed by some unusual allies: large teacher groups. Holly Eaton, with the Texas Classroom Teachers Association, described one of many concerns.

Holly Eaton: The state would have to show how many teachers were fired based on receiving poor evaluations. That's not something Texas has done before or the direction we've been moving in, frankly, in Texas.

Both Fort Worth and Dallas school districts say they wanted a shot at some of the money Perry took off the table. Now that individual districts can apply, both say they're looking into application requirements. John Dahlander, with the DISD.

John Dahlander: Every little bit helps. If you're trying to stretch a school budget, the more assistance you can get, whether it's from the feds or from the state level or grants, the better.

Dahlander says details aren't available yet. The district doesn't know how much money might be available, or what "strings" could be attached. Congress must first approve Obama's request for more money.

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