Senate "compromise" cuts funding for Louisiana schools

In their haste to satisfy conservative Republicans, senators cut funding for school construction from the recovery act under discussion in Washington, D.C. That could mean hundreds of millions of dollars lost to Louisiana, according to this article by Times-Picayune reporter Sarah Carr.

School districts struggling to recover from the ravages of hurricanes will suffer, according to the article:

Some of the money that was cut was intended to help speed the long process of
rebuilding schools along the Gulf Coast, many still storm-damaged. New Orleans
has the most to lose: It would have received at least $48 million this year
under the House-approved bill. But suburban parishes have plenty at stake as
well. Jefferson Parish, for instance, was to receive about $24 million in
construction money, while St. Tammany Parish was in line for $6.2 million.

As was reported recently in EdLog, Louisiana stood to gain a total of almost $300 million in school construction funds. Some say there is hope that construction money will be replaced in the bill when it goes to a conference committee. That conference report, however, would still have to be approved by both houses of Congress.