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Weekly Waste Watch: Week 24
Posted By Waste Watch :: October 26, 2009

$2.3 Million in Stimulus Funds for Beauty School Tuitions

  • Eight Tampa Bay cosmetology and massage schools are receiving $2.3 million in Stimulus funds to pay the tuitions for hairdressers, masseuses and nail technicians. The $2.3 million is coming out of the Pell Grant program which received $17 billion in federal stimulus grants.
  • Monica Ponce, the owner of Tampa’s Muse The Salon, doesn’t believe there is actually a demand for more beauty school graduates in the bay area. Chad Malm, owner of Tampa’s Salon Jack, agreed with Ponce noting there are already plenty of hairdressers in the area. According to Malm, not only is the idea of subsiding beauty school tuitions ridiculous, it’s also “wasting tax dollars.” 
  • In fact, only 1 to 2 percent of beauty school graduates will be working in the field five years from graduation, according to the Florida Cosmetology Association. Meaning, American taxpayer money is going towards non-permanent jobs within a profession that isn’t hiring.
  • Under the House Republican Stimulus Alternative, taxpayer funds would not be spent on beauty school tuitions. Instead, Republicans would have created twice as many jobs at half the cost. To learn how visit: http://republicanwhip.house.gov/Jobs/

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