Stimulus
Education news, analysis, and opinion about fiscal policies aimed at improving the economy in a recession and their impact on schools.
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See also: ESSER Funds
Education Funding
What Obama's Stimulus Had for Education That the Coronavirus Package Doesn't
The CARES Act includes less aid to help K-12 address coronavirus than the 2009 stimulus provided to schools to cope with the Great Recession. But it has something else many educators might appreciate.
Federal
How Another Recession Could Test K-12's Resilience
It took years to recover from the last big economic downturn. What’s changed since then—and what can schools expect if and when tough times come again?
Education Funding
National School Spending Inches Up to $623 Billion, Says Recent Federal Data
The National Center for Education Statistics reports that K-12 spending at the state and district level increased by 1.2 percent from fiscal 2013 to fiscal 2014.
Education Funding
Falling Stars: What We Can Learn From i3 Grant Recipients Who Struggled
As schools in Forsyth, Ga., and Corona-Norco, Calif., discovered, educators can learn a lot even from programs that don't become superstars under Investing in Innovation.
Education Funding
Did Billions of Dollars in School Turnaround Aid Help?
School Improvement Grant funding mattered, the Council of the Great City Schools found, and it was mostly the money, not the federally mandated turnaround models, that made the difference.
Federal
How Well Did Schools Implement School Improvement Grants?
None of the low-performing schools participating in an IES survey took all the steps they were encouraged to take.
Federal
Stimulus Boosted State Data Systems, Despite Compliance Hurdles
More than $50 billion in aid to recession-strapped states helped shape how they used and collected education data, though some struggled to comply with the strings attached.
Budget & Finance
Districts Adjust Spending to Post-Recession Reality
School systems wrestle with how to best deploy their resources and staff as funding comes inching back.
Education Funding
Five Interesting Tidbits in New Census School Finance Data
The federal share of school spending is still well above where it was before the recession and the economic-stimulus package.
Education Funding
Colorado May Pull Turnaround Grants from Five Failing Schools
Five schools in Colorado that got millions from the federal School Improvement Grant may lose those dollars after failing to move the needle on student achievement, even after two years of big financial support.
Education Funding
Report Roundup
School Turnarounds
Forty-two states and the District of Columbia have made changes to the way they are implementing the federal School Improvement Grant program last year.
Federal
Comparing, Contrasting Romney, Obama Education Platforms
Listen to Politics K-12's Alyson Klein discuss the education platforms of both presidential candidates.
Federal
Turnaround Schools Struggle With Staffing, Time, and Climate
The Center on Education Policy takes a deep look at the challenges facing those participating in the federal School Improvement Grant Program.
Education Funding
'I Can Make More Generals, But Horses Cost Money'
Various state are grappling with education funding problems that touch on a number of issues, from the possibility of a much shorter school year for many California districts, to the amount of "payback" North Carolina districts owe the state, and accusations New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) is overstepping his authority on school funding.