Education Funding

Competitive Stimulus Grants: Winners and Losers

Two years after Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, nearly $100 billion in economic-stimulus aid for education has been handed out—including nearly $5.3 billion as part of six grant competitions. The grants ranged from money under the high-profile Race to the Top program for states to a lesser-known competition to award emergency construction aid to school districts.

Two years after Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, nearly $100 billion in economic-stimulus aid for education has been handed out—including nearly $5.3 billion as part of six grant competitions. The grants ranged from money under the high-profile Race to the Top program for states to a lesser-known competition to award emergency construction aid to school districts. Ten states and their districts did not receive any competitive funding. Of those that did, Florida and New York come out on top in terms of total dollars. On a per-student basis, the District of Columbia, Delaware, and Tennessee were big winners.

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• These figures do not include the $330 million assessment competition that was part of the Race to the Top, since that grant was awarded to two large groups of states and winnings could not be attributed to individual states. • Enrollment figures are from the 2008-09 school year.
About the competitive grants
Race to the Top—$4 billion to states to implement broad-based education reform plans. State Longitudinal Data Systems—$250 million to states to improve their data systems. Impact Aid Construction: Competitive Grants—$59.8 million to school districts to make emergency repairs and modernize of their facilities. Teacher Incentive Fund—Nearly $200 million for states, districts, and nonprofits to implement performance-based pay in school districts. Teacher Quality Partnership Program—$100 million to schools of education and districts to improve teacher-preparation programs. Investing in Innovation—$650 million to districts and nonprofits to scale up promising practices.
Designed by: Chienyi Cheri Hung | Researched by: Michele McNeil

Coverage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is supported in part by grants from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, at www.hewlett.org, and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, at www.mott.org.

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Stimulus

A version of this article appeared in the February 23, 2011 edition of Education Week