Education in the Stimulus Bill

I sat on a conference call today with the new Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. The conference call was supposed to give a little guidance on how education will benefit from the economic stimulus. Secretary Duncan said there are three areas of extreme importance to him and President Obama in terms of benefitting education. The first goal is to protect children, the second goal is to provide and protect jobs and the third goal is to push a reform agenda for education.

Here are a few numbers he spewed out and how this money will be allocated.

54 billion States stabilization and education fund

9 billion Capital needs

5 billion Race to the Top fund (overall drive to improve education)

32 billion College affordability

17 billion Pell grants

15 billion Tax Credits

12 billion IDA and Special Education

5 billion Early childhood education

200 million Pay for performance

And a few other things, I started zoning out after hearing millions. Secretary Duncan expressed their hope to get money to the states in order to help them finish the 2009 school year and include in their 2009-2010 school year budget. They expect to have the stimulus bill on President Obama's desk by Monday and you can see that looks realistic since the bill has breezed through the House and is moving through the Senate.

My only concern is the point where money goes to the states, this is when the ball of confusion starts spinning. Will the funds go to all schools in a blanket amount or to the schools with the most need? Will there be requirements for the money? Will pay for performance support teacher salaries along with union requirements? Does money for college affordability mean more scholarships, free books, free laptops??

There's still much unanswered at this point and Secretary Duncan didn't seem to have sufficient answers. When it comes to this stimulus the real question is, what happens when the rubber meets the road.