250,000 Education Jobs: Good News for White House

The stimulus allowed states to restore much of their education budget shortfalls for 2009 and '10, according to a Domestic Policy Council report. That means 250,000 saved education jobs this year.

Last week the White House reacted to another report that the stimulus saved or created 30,000 jobs in the private infrastructure sector. Even if that number seems a little low, it makes sense that the stimulus is creating/saving far more jobs in education that the private sector.

From the GAO report on stimulus spending through August:

More than three quarters of the federal outlays has been provided through the increased Medicaid Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) and the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF) administered by the Department of Education.

One possible reason why the stimulus hasn't created more private sector jobs is that it has largely been a public sector stimulus. Here's a graphic breakdown of stimulus spending from the spring. You can see the percentages are pretty much the same: