There has been much controversy on the effectiveness of the stimulus package and whether it created jobs. And the Obama Administration added the practically meaningless category of “saved” jobs to the possibilities of stimulus benefits.
It seems though, according to this story in the Dispatch today, that the way the administration collected data on the stimulus funds, jobs created and saved were inevitable.
Of the 212.5 full-time equivalent jobs the [Columbus City Schools] district said were funded with part of the $64 million in stimulus it expects to receive, about 65 percent were “saved,” including 36 principals and assistant principals.
So was the district on the verge of laying off 36 school administrators?
“No,” Dannemiller said, explaining that the reporting choices were “created” and “saved.”
“They weren’t ‘created,’ obviously, so our only other choice was ‘saved.’”
I guess failure was not an option, literally.
But don’t worry, that money will help anyway. It’s just not clear how.
District spokeswoman Kim Norris said the “stabilization” part of the stimulus — designed to make up state education aid to districts that otherwise might have been cut — makes up about 6 percent of Columbus schools’ state aid. So, she said, if it hadn’t been for the stimulus money, the district “would have had some decisions as what to do with that shortfall.”
So although 36 principal jobs were not specifically saved, something likely got saved somewhere in the budget, she said.
And some people wonder why so many other people are worried about government taking over health care. Never mind the many other issues involved, on the management factor alone it’s enough to disqualify the current proposals.
