School stimulus a temporary fix

The latest federal windfall for public education - $10 billion of a $26-billion jobs bill approved by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama earlier this month - is already trickling in to local schools.

But rather than glee, school superintendents are sounding a note of reality. They know the fix is temporary. The additional dollars are limited and will only plug deficits so much and for so long. The inevitable is still on the horizon.

Government, including public education, is going to have to downsize. It has grown larger than the ability of taxpayers to subsidize it.

This newspaper didn't approve of the latest education bailout, not because we're anti-education but because it makes no sense to prop up public schools one or two more years. Municipalities such as Norwich just went through a painful process reining in education spending, eventually closing two schools and cutting 38 jobs. Now, with the new federal infusion, the city is rehiring 15 of those staff.

But what happens when the extra money expires in September 2012? The original federal stimulus that the state used to offset its education spending is expiring, too, ensuring that next year is going to be even more difficult.

There's no silver lining, but the reaction of superintendents to this new stimulus is evidence that they know it's a pacifier, not a problem-solver.