Congress has allocated $10 billion intended to avert layoffs of an estimated 160,000 teachers across the country. State budget gaps are endangering between 100,000 to 300,000 education jobs for the school year that is just getting under way, according to the US Department of Education. The new funding is also likely to be beneficial for school marketers, according to education marketing consultant Charles Blaschke of Education TURNKEY Systems (ETS).

“Most of the implications are positive,” Blaschke said. “Several billion dollars of local and other funds which otherwise would have been used to attempt to retain teacher jobs will be freed-up possibly to purchase products and services.” Blaschke released a special edition of his TechMIS newsletter, co-written with his associate Blair Curry.

According to the ETS report there are ways in which local school districts may be able to use a portion of the funds for purchases. For example, districts that do not need the funds to retain teachers are allowed to spend their allocation on after-school and extended learning programs. “In states such as North Dakota, there may be new opportunities for such expanded after-school or extended learning time initiatives,” the ETS report says.

The legislation also provided $16.1 billion to extend Federal Medicaid relief funding to the states. This will help states close budget gaps related to the increased demand for low-income health services. A portion of that funding could be made available to special education programs through S-CHIP Medicaid reimbursements.

The Department of Education has released a projection (PDF download) of how the $10 billion of funding will be allocated among the states. The figures range from $17 million for Wyoming to $1.2 billion for California. It’s worth noting, however, that cash strapped states like California are likely to use the entire sum for salaries while states with less significant budget gaps are more likely to have the flexibility to offset other funds for purchasing.

For more information about marketing opportunities related to federal education funding, contact our partners at Education TURNKEY Systems (www.edturnkey.com).