Miss. to use stimulus to restore education funds

The Sun Herald, 2/19/9

Millions in federal stimulus dollars will go toward restoring cuts made to Mississippi’s education budget, say officials who have met with Gov. Haley Barbour.

Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant said Thursday that Barbour plans to use some of the federal funding for the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, a formula used to pay for elementary and secondary schools.

“It’s his belief we will have sufficient money for MAEP,” Bryant said of the program.

Barbour spokesman Dan Turner declined to discuss how the stimulus money would be spent on education.

Pete Smith, a spokesman for the state Department of Education, said Barbour had not met with agency officials yet.