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$5 Billion Pot of Money Draws Plenty of Interest, Raises Some Eyebrows

One education advocate calls it "a golden opportunity," while a think tank official has labeled it "the largest education slush fund in history."

Either way, the $5 billion pot of federal money put at the disposal of U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to help state and local projects under the $787 billion economic-stimulus package is drawing attention far out of proportion to its size.

The fund—a relatively small slice of some $115 billion in education aid contained in the bill that President Barack Obama signed into law last week—is intended for grants to reward states and districts that improve their academic standards, assessments, and data systems and distribute their...