SAGINAW -- Cash-strapped states are one step closer to receiving billions of dollars more in federal aid, mostly for education.
The federal jobs bill would keep teachers in Mid-Michigan employed.
Every school district in Mid-Michigan has felt the pinch of the recession.
But now there's hope this bill would provide some relief, even if it is temporary.
Legislation aimed at preventing the layoffs of thousands of teachers in Mid-Michigan has passed the senate.
"I don't think there could have been a more important time," said State Senator John Gleason.
The Federal Jobs Bill would help local school boards deal with severe budget problems; something State Senator John Gleason says is the government's moral obligation.
"We see the enormous dropout rate in the city of Flint, and we see the results of that. Sometimes our schools aren't full, but our local prisons are," said Gleason.
The bill would provide $10 billion dollars in grants to stop teacher layoffs, something the Saginaw School District has been forced to do.
"It’s been very tight these past couple of years, we had to lay off several teachers this school year," said Safiya Mosley, the Information Services Specialist with the Saginaw School District.
The layoffs were based on seniority, so many younger teachers were let go. School officials say this takes away fresh ideas from the classroom.
"It does have a slight effect in the classroom, but we do everything we can to make sure it doesn't affect the educational quality of our students," said Mosley.
Helping to ease the financial burden of school districts in Michigan comes at a big cost; many republicans oppose the Federal Jobs Bill saying school districts will become dependent on federal funding.
The Saginaw School District says 80% of its budget is staffing, so any federal funding, even if it is temporary will keep its teachers employed.
Saginaw school officials also say the district needs to look outside of local taxes to keep its costs manageable.
Nancy Pelosi is calling lawmakers back to Washington next week from their summer vacation to cast the final votes and send the bill to the president.
