PROVIDENCE - For Rhode Island to get a $165 million federal lifeline to help stave off teacher layoffs and public school closings, the state may have to spend what it doesn't have: more money.
The federal legislation says that to get the stimulus funds, states must be spending at least as much on education as they did three years earlier. Rhode Island, beset by a 10.5 percent unemployment rate and a fiscal crisis that dates to 2001, is unlikely to meet that mark.
Governor Don Carcieri, a Republican, has asked the US Department of Education to let his state get the federal funding without having to increase spending. The governor has acknowledged that his total $7.6 billion budget plan for the year starting in July may need revision to maximize Rhode Island's share of the stimulus package.
In a worst-case scenario, Rhode Island would need to increase spending 1 percent annually - a total of about $130 million - to get $165 million, mostly for local school districts. That's a questionable deal for the state. Analysts for the state hope Rhode Island may ultimately get a better deal that involves significantly less spending.
It remains unclear how the federal government will determine whether states are meeting the spending threshold needed to trigger the stimulus funds.
Under federal law, Rhode Island could get the stimulus money but avoid spending increases if it proves there's been a precipitous drop in state income. So far, the US Department of Education has not clarified what that means but will give more guidance in the next few weeks, said spokesman Jim Bradshaw.