Washington D.C. – Congressman Kurt Schrader (D-OR) applauded the decision by the conference committee to release funding from the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund of the recovery package immediately. The funding was approved as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that was passed by the House this afternoon.

“This is an important step in protecting Oregon’s schools from having to make drastic cuts over the next 4 months,” said Schrader. “Some school districts are considering shutting their doors in April. Others are contemplating drastically increasing class sizes, cutting elective courses and laying-off teachers.”

The original House version of the recovery package stipulated that money could not be released until July 1st 2009. During a series of meetings over the past week, Congressman Schrader urged Congressional leaders and members of the conference committee to make the funding available immediately. The final conference committee version released last night includes $53.6 billion for the fund, but deleted the July 1st date.

“I’m extremely pleased congressional leaders understand how important it is to get this money into our schools as soon as possible. Superintendents and school boards are meeting right now to try and deal with a statewide education shortfall of over $300 million for this school year. This money has the capability to serve as a lifeline for Oregon schools during these turbulent times. It’s now imperative for federal and state agencies to work together to ensure this money is used efficiently and immediately to save thousands of jobs and prevent devastating cuts in services.”

The State Fiscal Stabilization Fund is intended to help states deal with large budget deficits in areas such as education and public safety. The funding will be released to governors who are responsible for allocating it to individual districts. Oregon is estimated to get $568.4 million from the fund.  81.8% of that allotment must be used directly for education. 18.2% can be used for other services such as public safety or education, including school modernization.