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Initial Superintendent's Guidance

Superintendent Castillo's Initial Planning Guidance to school districts for education ARRA funding: 3-13-09

 As you all know, Oregon will be receiving federal stimulus dollars to help our students weather these tough economic times. The investment in education through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) is designed to do two things:



1.    Help our schools make it through this current budget crisis and;

2.    Invest in the long-term strength of our nation through school reforms that boost student achievement.



We are fighting together every day to get the best budget possible from the State Legislature and the most funding from the Congress so that we can do our work and focus on our students. I know how hard your job is right now. You are building budgets based on limited resources and limited information.



It may feel like you are walking a tightrope as you attempt to balance speedy investments that will help schools this school year, plan for the next biennium, and invest in strategies that will have real, long-term impacts on students.

Earlier this week, I was in Washington, DC, meeting with my colleagues from around the country. Much of our discussion centered on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. We met with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and President Obama. Both delivered a very strong message, directing us to target the dollars we receive in this unprecedented help from the federal government. The president encouraged us to use these funds to expand programs that raise student achievement and to stop funding those that aren’t delivering the results we want. They both reiterated the message delivered to state superintendents about a week ago at the White House that they expect transparency and accountability and that they are presenting us with a unique window of opportunity for our children. While this window comes at a time when we are facing an unprecedented state budget crisis, we must make every effort to invest the federal dollars in what we know will make the biggest difference for Oregon’s students.

 

 

 Susan Castillo 

Oregon State Superintendent of Public Instruction