Washington, DC –
U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD) praised Senate passage today of emergency funding that would prevent mass layoffs of tens of thousands of teachers and first responders across the nation.
“Local communities throughout Maryland and across the nation are finally feeling relief today with the long-awaited Senate passage of $26 billion in aid to our states, $10 billion of which will help prevent 140,000 teachers and 150,000 first responders from being laid off. For Maryland, this emergency measure, which is fully paid for and adds zero dollars to our federal deficit, means an estimated $178 million for education, which translates into 2,200 jobs.
“The
American Reinvestment and Recovery Act has been credited with saving 300,000 education jobs and has helped to lessen the impact of the recession. As that funding comes to an end, however, massive job cuts threatened to stall economic recovery and damage our children’s education. Thus far, almost 80% of school districts across the nation have had to lay off educators. Maryland, which is number one in the nation in education, according to Education Week for the second year in a row, has not been immune. Prince George’s County alone has seen 800 jobs cut, 355 of those were classroom positions. These job losses have an economic ripple effect. The Economic Policy Institute projects that every 100,000 education jobs lost causes an additional loss of 30,000 private sector jobs in local communities. This can take a devastating toll on families and on whole communities. The Senate had to act. As our children prepare to go back to school, I am thankful that we were able to keep teachers in the classroom,
school bus drivers on their routes and school nurses and counselors in place to ensure our children’s safety.”
