Education Law

Three states to get stimulus funds

California, Illinois and South Dakota are expected to get billions in federal dollars primarily for education in the next few weeks under the economic stimulus plan, according to this article from CNN.com. These states are the first to have their applications approved by the U.S. Department of Education for the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, which aims at helping shore up state budget and avoid layoffs of teachers and staff (see ED’s announcement here).

School districts in these three states should contact their state departments of education regarding the stabilization funds and how they will be spent. Once the funds are received, states are required to distribute them to school districts based on state funding formula and distribute any remaining funds as subgrants to districts under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act Part A funding formula (see funding distribution at NSBA’s Economic Stimulus Resource Center here).

Many other states are in the process of submitting their applications for the stabilization funds. States must provide specific information in the areas of teacher quality, data capacity, the quality of assessments and supports for schools under NCLB’s sanctions.

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on April 24, 2009 (boomark / email).