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Guidelines Sketch Out Use of Aid

Federal Stimulus Allocations to Come Soon, With Strings

The eagerly awaited federal guidelines on some $100 billion in stimulus funding for public education aim to pump money out quickly, while giving the U.S. Department of Education leverage to demand improvements from states and districts.

But those same states and districts are also warned not to expect the hefty sums for K-12 programs in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to become part of a new baseline for federal aid. The guidelines advise recipients to use the extra money coming over the next two years for short-term expenditures that could have longer-term benefits for student learning.

And as state and local officials gird for the challenge of managing the stimulus money, they are being told to keep careful track of every dollar in order to meet rigorous...