The money is restricted to avoiding layoffs, but Iannuzzi said it comes after a difficult process in which taxpayers and districts already made hard choices to cut their school budgets. He said the additional money only allows districts to delay the inevitable for a year because revenues are not suddenly going to rebound anytime soon.

“They’re getting a windfall that can only be spent in ways they can’t sustain,” said Edmund McMahon, director of the Empire Center for Public Policy and a frequent critic of school spending. “If you’re a teacher rehired by this, keep your resume fresh.”

The $26 billion measure would provide $16 billion to help states fund their Medicaid budgets — and therefore free money for other budget priorities — and $10 billion for grants to school districts to forestall layoffs as schools across the country prepare to open. New York stands to get $2 billion in Medicaid funding.

The measure was financed through cutting other programs and raising taxes on some U.S.-based multinational companies. The cuts chosen by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., include a $12 billion cut to food stamps that would cost a family of four $59 a month beginning in early 2014….

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