After engaging in a highly publicized war-of-words with Congressman Kendrick Meek and state Senate Minority Leader Al Lawson, Gov. Charlie Crist and Education Commissioner Eric Smith submitted Florida’s application for public education stimulus dollars.Florida is eligible for $2.7 billion in education funding for grades K-12 over the next few years, but is required to first submit an application. The state will likely need an additional waiver because of reductions in education funding levels since 2006.
Smith said that he was waiting to get more detailed guidelines about the waiver process, but the U.S. Department of Education said Florida does not need that information in order to apply for the funds.
Meek denounced Smith’s actions as foot-dragging.
"I voted for the passage of the stimulus bill based in part on the education dollars that Florida would receive,” Meek said. “I know that Florida schools are in dire need of these monies, and that schools' reserve funds are depleted. Without these dollars, the educational gains that Florida has made over the last few years will be lost to us as teachers are laid off, programs cut, and schools closed. Every moment that is lost to inaction in the waning days of the legislative session further ties the hands of school district administrators.”
Smith, though, defended his actions.
"It's a matter of timing," Smith told reporters. "The worst thing to have would be the expectation we'd receive funding through the application process and then find there's a problem with the waiver."
Those comments led Lawson to fire off a follow-up letter to Crist and Smith expressing exasperation on behalf of the Senate Democratic Caucus.
“We are stunned that with less than a week to go in the 2009 Legislative Session, Commissioner Eric Smith has yet to submit the necessary paperwork to draw down federal stimulus dollars Florida desperately needs and on which our final budget depends,” he stated.
Crist and Smith confirmed that they sent the paperwork off last Friday.
Funding for public education has been reduced by approximately $1.1 billion in the last two years. The state's budget has been reduced by approximately $13 billion over the last two years, while Florida's taxable base for schools has declined from $344.8 billion to roughly $342.2 billion since 2006.