The Obama administration hoped spending $787 billion in stimulus would jump-start the economy, build new schools and usher in an era of education reform. So far, government auditors say, many states are setting aside such grand plans and simply trying to stay afloat.The Government Accountability Office, in a report to be released Wednesday, says the stimulus is keeping teachers off the unemployment lines, helping states make greater Medicaid payments and providing a desperately needed cushion to state budgets.
But investigators found repeated examples in which, either out of desperation or convenience, states favored short-term spending over long-term efforts such as education reform.
In Flint, Mich., for example, new schools haven't been built in 30 years but the school superintendent told auditors that he would use federal money to cope with budget deficits rather than building new schools or paying for early childhood education.
So I guess, outside of that turtle crossing in Florida, we won't be seeing any built by Obama signs anywhere in the future.
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