Federal education money splits candidates
State: Dubie’s suggestion on ed. spending appears to break law
By Louis Porter
Vermont Press Bureau
MONTPELIER — Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie’s campaign said Wednesday his approach to using $19 million in new federal education money sets him apart from his Democratic would-be rivals in the race to become governor.
Dubie said in a statement that at least two of his potential Democratic opponents “ignore reality” in their approach.
But there is a real question about whether Dubie’s preferred approach to the money — using it to help pay down state obligations to the teachers’ pension system — is even legal under the language of the bill just signed into law by President Barack Obama.
That measure stipulates that the money for education be used “only for compensation and benefits and other expenses … necessary to retain existing employees, to recall or rehire former employees and to hire new employees.”
In fact, many possible uses for the funds are explicitly prohibited, including “general administrative expenses” putting the money into rainy-day funds, using it to settle debt obligations or to “supplant state funds in a manner that has the effect of reducing or retiring debt obligations incurred by the state.”
In addition the Vermont Department of Education’s reading of the law also indicates that the money could not be used for those pension obligations either, said Jill Remick, a department spokesman.
Corry Bliss, Dubie’s campaign manager, disagreed.
“Our understanding is quite simple, that it could be used for that,” Bliss said.
In any case, the issue establishes a clear difference between Dubie, the sole Republican in the race, and the five Democrats running to become their party’s nominee, Bliss said.
According to Dubie using the one-time federal money for ongoing expenses like teachers’ salaries in Vermont, which has not yet seen the widespread layoffs of teachers that other states have, would be irresponsible because it is now time to cut school expenses.
“I welcome this federal money, but we need to use it in a way that will not add to Vermonters’ property tax burdens,” Dubie said in a statement.
It does appear that education spending may be a central issue of the fall general election campaign, whichever of the Democrats wins the nomination. Dubie’s opponents do not all agree about exactly how to use the money, but they do all agree that he is wrong.
Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin and Matt Dunne were the main targets of Dubie’s criticism Wednesday.
“Our congressional delegation is providing emergency funds to save jobs,” Shumlin said in an e-mail. “These funds will build a bridge between education job losses and sustainable spending cuts that our school boards are working so hard to achieve.”
“Brian Dubie clearly doesn’t believe protecting the quality of education in Vermont and supporting our teachers’ takes priority over ideology,” Dunne said in his response.
Secretary of State Deborah Markowitz said the money should go to education initiatives that will help students, even if they do not learn well in the traditional classroom structure.
“I think Brian Dubie is absolutely wrong about this,” she said. “I know how important it is for us to support our public education.”
She wants to make sure the money is used in schools.
“We can’t just let this money end up in the black hole of Montpelier,” she added.
Schools are already under pressure from spending cuts and the federal money will give them a little breathing space to make cuts more gradually, State Sen. Doug Racine said. To use the money for pension obligations “certainly contradicts the intent, which is to protect teacher positions and protect the quality of education,” he said.
For her part State Sen. Susan Bartlett told Vermont Public Radio that making education “the bad guy” means we “totally miss the point of education is one of the most important things that we do. And that it’s a big system and it takes time to make some structural change.”
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