Hundreds of thousands of dollars will pour into the Gloucester school district from the federal government this year.
Great news, right?
Well, on one level, of course, it is. Gloucester's schools, like many others, are grappling with ever-increasing budget problems. And the more than $700,000 on its way here through a combination of new federal Race to the Top funding and so-called "education stimulus" dollars should certainly ease Gloucester schools' continuing crisis.
But local officials must be wary that this funding could be a short-term blessing that turns into a long-term curse.
For, unless such federal largesse is going to become an annual event — and there is little evidence that it will — it will simply put off the crisis until next year.
As politicians are fond of saying, it amounts to "kicking the can down the road." It doesn't solve the district's enormous fiscal problem. It just postpones it — and that's not the type of long-term solution the city should be seeking.
So, what's not to like about $332,402 in federal stimulus money, plus $413,347 in Race to the Top money over four years? It sounds like the windfall the district needs, just in time.
Other regional districts, including Manchester Essex, North Shore Regional Vocational and Essex Agricultural and Technical High School are also receiving Race to the Top funds, but not nearly as much — $62,000 or less. And it's not as though the money comes with no strings attached.
The Race to the Top money must be used only for state approved "innovation" projects such as increasing teacher performance evaluations, improving the lowest achieving schools and expanding the use of test data to shape teaching.
The stimulus money, however, is to be used specifically for teacher salaries. And there are indeed a number of problems with all of this.
Surely, the teachers will be delighted that another $332,402 is earmarked for their salaries. As their union leaders regularly argue, teachers deserve better pay and benefits. But in a fiscal crisis amid a prolonged recession, what people "deserve" loses much of its relevance.
It is what the city can afford. Surely, there are thousands on Cape Ann in the private sector who deserve more than they are getting because of the depressed economy. They can't demand more from taxpayers to insulate them from economic reality.
So what happens next year, when there is no more stimulus money? Will the teachers agree to take a pay cut worth $332,402? The chances of that are not even slim and none. They are none.
Beyond that, why are federal stimulus dollars being continually used to inflate the public sector? The stimulus was sold with the promise that it would revitalize the private sector, and that it would hold unemployment to less than 8 percent.
As we all know, both state and national unemployment are more than 9 percent — yet the vast majority of the stimulus money has gone into the public, not the private sector. That simply makes government even more expensive and unaffordable for a struggling private sector. And that doesn't add up to a whole lot of sense.
The problem with the Race to the Top money is similar. Innovation and improved student performance sound great, but how many decades is it that we've been hearing about educational innovation just needing a bigger "investment" from taxpayers?
Also, just like the stimulus funds, what will happen to all that innovation when the Race to the Top money stops coming?
That is the problem with federal grants — they encourage new or expanded spending, but when the federal money stops flowing, the local community is either stuck with the bill or has to shut down the program. That's something Gloucester cannot afford to face, either now or over the next few years, when, among other things, reimbursement levels from the state's charter school funding will dwindle for the rest of the city's schools.
All of this might best be termed a Scarlett O'Hara fiscal policy: We have a problem? Well, we'll think about that tomorrow.
The problem is that it is past tomorrow. And kicking the can down the road may indeed only make things worse.
