The public school system’s in southern Minnesota, including Austin, are in position to receive millions of dollars from recent federal stimulus laws. This is both good news and bad news.

The good news is that many school systems are strapped for dollars right now and the money, if invested responsibly, could facilitate improved student learning. The bad news is that you can expect the majority of the millions to be expended otherwise drooling school boards, administration and educational unions place the money in their general budgets. The mercurial nature of general budgets permits spending and re-allocation of funds on any number of line items belongs to salary and benefits, whether merited or not. We can also expect investments into the continuation of instructional programs and activities that have failed to enhance student achievement or are mediocre at best. Too often, direct student benefits are the last areas to get the bucks.

It is ironic that this fiscal boon comes at a time when public education, pre-school through post-secondary, has failed to meet the accountability standards of No Child Left Behind, and that school officials and unions state they never will. It is also unfortunate that we have failed to identify and isolate those schools and certificated/classified personnel who truly think and behave “kids first,” so that the invested millions would result in positive measurable outcomes for those who learn and those who teach.

Arnold Lang

Austin