For schools, use of stimulus money falls short of big hopes csmonitor.com:
"The announcement earlier this year that roughly $100 billion in federal stimulus funds would flow to public schools came with great expectations – both for saving jobs and for fostering reforms in education. But the way the money is being used so far is decidedly more mundane.
In a new survey of 160 school-district leaders, 53 percent say they have not been able to use the money to save teaching positions in core subject areas or special education. And 67 percent say the opportunity to direct the money to reforms has been limited or nil."
"The announcement earlier this year that roughly $100 billion in federal stimulus funds would flow to public schools came with great expectations – both for saving jobs and for fostering reforms in education. But the way the money is being used so far is decidedly more mundane.
In a new survey of 160 school-district leaders, 53 percent say they have not been able to use the money to save teaching positions in core subject areas or special education. And 67 percent say the opportunity to direct the money to reforms has been limited or nil."
When asked how they are using or plan to use ARRA Title I monies, the top five responses were:
professional development (63 percent)
saving existing personnel positions (58 percent)
classroom technology (53 percent)
classroom equipment/supplies (38 percent)
software (35 percent)
professional development (63 percent)
saving existing personnel positions (58 percent)
classroom technology (53 percent)
classroom equipment/supplies (38 percent)
software (35 percent)
The top five reported uses for ARRA IDEA dollars are identical:
professional development (68 percent)
saving existing personnel positions (61 percent)
classroom technology (54 percent)
classroom equipment/supplies (41 percent)
software (37 percent)
professional development (68 percent)
saving existing personnel positions (61 percent)
classroom technology (54 percent)
classroom equipment/supplies (41 percent)
software (37 percent)
The ARRA State Fiscal Stabilization dollars are being invested in the same areas as Title I and IDEA dollars, though at much smaller rates, as districts report a greater variety of uses for the SFSF funds.