I can’t figure this one out:

The number of people who filed new applications for jobless benefits leaped 43,000 last week to 474,000, the highest level in almost nine months. A Labor official attributed much of the increase to temporary layoffs in the auto sector and in the state of New York, where workers in the educational field such as bus drivers are eligible for compensation during the week of spring break.

Why are workers in the educational field in New York collecting unemployment benefits for normal shutdowns? Isn’t their existing compensation structure based on a given amount of working hours? Are they entitled to unemployment benefits during the summer? Aside from the bus drivers, which other workers in the educational field are eligible for this sort of compensation?

This all seems a little weird, particularly when millions of unemployed are losing their benefits. Any thoughts?