DENVER—Colorado would receive about $415 million for education spending under a federal proposal aimed at boosting the country’s ailing economy, U.S. Rep. Jared Polis said Saturday.
The Colorado Democrat said the money would come from the proposal dubbed as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan by President-elect Barack Obama. Although the plan doesn’t have a final price tag, Obama aides have said it could cost as much as $775 billion.
Polis said the funds would be broken into two parts over two years: $280 million to help low-income and special education students and $135 million for building repair and construction. Polis said the plan is still making its way through Congress and will be taken up by the Appropriations Committee and the Ways and Means Committee in the House in the coming weeks.
Polis said if the plan is passed, states could start seeing money as soon as March.
“The whole purpose of this recovery act is to infuse the money into the states very quickly,” said Polis, who was elected to Congress in November and sits on the House Education and Labor Committee.
If approved, the funds would come at a time when Colorado is facing major budget cuts. Gov. Bill Ritter recommended $632 million in cuts from the current state budget Friday, with public and higher education facing big cuts.
Under Ritter’s recommendation, $34 million in spending for full-day kindergarten construction would be eliminated, as well as $4.9 million for charter school construction and $1.2 million for teacher recruiting. Also eliminated would be $1.8 million for military dependents in public school. Ritter also said $30 million from higher education needs to be cut.
Polis said the spending package would include money for higher education financial aid programs.
He said it would mostly be up to school districts how to spend the money.
“Those kind of decisions should be made at the local level and not the federal government. It’s going to be up to the school districts to decide,” he said.
Polis said he’s hopeful Amendment 23 will help preserve some funding for public education. Under that state mandate, annual one-percent increases in education funding are required until 2010.
