Teachers and the Economic Stimulus
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Although the total number of education jobs is dropping at unprecedented levels, the federal economic-stimulus package approved last year by Congress can be credited with paying for 342,000,
or 5.5 percent, of all teaching jobs nationally this school year, according to a new report.
Researchers at the University of Washington’s Center on Reinventing Public Education in Seattle studied data from 21 states and found that these states did not grow their education
workforces, but instead relied on the nearly $100 billion in stimulus aid to fund those jobs.
The researchers also said their findings foreshadow employment challenges ahead, including fewer younger teachers, an aging workforce, and unbalanced teacher-pension systems.
MicheleMcNeil Michele McNeil was an assistant editor and reporter for Education Week and co-author of the Politics K-12 blog.
A version of this article appeared in the March 31, 2010 edition of Education Week as Teachers and the Economic Stimulus