Even with sequestration—which sliced 5 percent from federal K-12 spending last year—the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics says local government education employment posted a monthly increase of 9,500 jobs.
The White House was careful to note that education job gains have a long way to go to get back to the previous, prefinancial crisis peak in June 2008. In March, the Obama administration warned that 40,000 teachers could be laid off as a result of sequester cuts.
Advocates contend that districts were able to spare classrooms from sequester pain during the first year of the cuts, but it will be a lot tougher going forward.
