An education jobs bill approved by Congress on Tuesday could result in new teachers hired in local schools this year.

South Carolina will get $143.4 million in education aid from a $10 billion spending bill for states passed by Congress in an effort to save teacher jobs nationwide. Congress also approved $16 billion in Medicaid funding which could indirectly assist schools by lessening budget pressure on states once the stimulus money runs out next year.

State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex said the new federal dollars will likely save more than 2,000 South Carolina teachers from getting pink slips next summer.

The new federal money could be available to school districts by September. States can distribute their funding to school districts based on their own primary funding formula or district shares of federal Title 1 funds for high poverty schools.

The exact amount for each school district has not been determined.

Interim Cherokee County superintendent Kim Bagwell said the district would likely use any federal money to add new teachers.

“Our first inclination would be to use the federal funds on hiring new teachers to help reduce high class sizes in our schools,” Bagwell said. “We think this would have the biggest impact on our instructional program.”

South Carolina’s public schools will begin the new school year with $750 million less in state funds than they began with two years ago, according to the state Department of Education. School districts statewide have eliminated between 2,800 and 3,900 classroom teachers over the past two years.

Despite the new federal funding, Rex said it will likely have little impact in the state’s school districts this fall because class schedules and enrollments have already been set based on a smaller teacher work force.

“Districts say they will use the additional federal dollars to avoid laying off teachers next year,” Rex said. “For this year, they’ll work to get by with the cuts they’ve already made. Several superintendents tell us that they may try to restore a few key positions immediately, but that’s the exception rather than the rule.”