SACRAMENTO /California Newswire/ — Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger issued the statement below after the White House released a Domestic Policy Council report documenting the impact of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) spending on education. According to the report, Recovery Act spending in the area of education has saved or created 250,000 jobs nation-wide. According to preliminary data reported to the federal government by Governor Schwarzenegger’s California Recovery Task Force, 24.8 percent or 62,204 of these education jobs were saved or created in California.

“We are working hand in hand with President Obama’s team to pump Recovery Act funding into our economy quickly and responsibly – and even our preliminary data shows very positive results,” said Governor Schwarzenegger. “The Recovery Act is indeed saving or creating jobs in California, especially in education.”

On October 10, 2009, Governor Schwarzenegger’s California Recovery Task Force announced that preliminary first quarter reports show Recovery Act funds managed by state government entities have cumulatively saved or created over 100,000 jobs in California through September 30, 2009. These preliminary reports will be reviewed and audited by federal and state authorities and finalized on October 31. During this review period funding recipients can and will amend data – correcting miscalculations, technical errors and adding additional information about activities occurring at the end of the quarter that was not yet available.

Within this report, the following education-related agencies in California self-reported the following:
· The California Department of Education (Local Education Agencies): 27,692 jobs saved or created through Recovery Act spending through September 20, 2009.
· California State University: 26,156 jobs saved or created through Recovery Act spending through September 30, 2009
· University of California: 8,356 jobs saved or created through Recovery Act spending through September 30, 2009.

Local governments, non-profits, businesses and other entities awarded Recovery Act funding directly by the federal government are required to report directly to the federal government – and are therefore not included in state government reports. It is estimated state government entities will manage approximately 50 percent of funding over the two-year course of the Recovery Act.