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Utah has been approved to receive $101 million in federal money for schools, the U.S. Department of Education announced Monday.
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan commended Utah on Monday for being one of the first states to submit its application. Gov. Gary Herbert sent Utah's application for the money to the feds on Sept. 7.
"There is a huge sense of urgency to get these funds out the door," Duncan said in a statement. "These education dollars will help Utah keep thousands of teachers in the classroom working with our students this school year."
State legislative leaders have asked Utah school districts to hold off on spending the money until it's formally approved by lawmakers and because they're still seeking more information from the U.S. Secretary of Education about how the money may be used.
Many school districts, however, have already started formulating preliminary plans for the money. Officials in the Canyons, Salt Lake City and Davis school districts have said they are waiting on more information before spending the money, but they hope to spend the money on teachers.
Other districts, such as Provo and Alpine, have already started spending cash in anticipation of the dollars. The Alpine district has added more teachers and the Provo district is paying for full-day kindergarten.
But it's unclear exactly how much districts might get and how much might be used at the state level. Lawmakers are considering using part of the money to fill a shortfall of $44 million, according to preliminary figures, in the state's Education Fund. They're also considering putting it into the state retirement system to help educators or putting it toward additional preparation days for teachers, Senate President Michael Waddoups has said.
A special session will likely be held in coming months so Utah lawmakers can formally approve taking the money.
The money is part of a $10 billion education fund meant to bolster education jobs in the 2010-11 school year. Per federal law, the money may be used for compensation, benefits and support services to retain current employees, rehire past employees and/or hire new ones.
The money may only be used for school-level employees, and it may be used for salaries, performance bonuses, health insurance and retirement benefits, among other things. —