The U.S. Department of Education has released its first round of reporting regarding the impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (“ARRA”), commonly known as “The Stimulus Package.” The data shows the extent to which ARRA has restored education funding in the states. In Connecticut, for instance, ARRA is credited with restoring $269,519,895 in education funding during fiscal year 2010. The data is included in a recent report issued by the White House.
An Education Week article looks closer at the data and finds that “36 states will have to fill a collective gap of at least $16.5 billion to return to fiscal 2008 state spending levels for K-12 education. And that does not reflect the more recent revenue shortfalls many states have since encountered.”