Title I, Spec. Ed. Aid Casts Long Stimulus Shadow

Short-term choices could haunt districts after stimulus ends.

Programs serving the nation’s economically disadvantaged students and those with disabilities are receiving massive funding boosts through the federal stimulus package—$13 billion for Title I aid and $11.3 billion for special education—but how school districts choose to use the money may set them up for problems when it dries up.

The fiscal fallout from the recession has forced many districts to use part of the stimulus money for short-term budget fixes, such as filling in funding gaps and avoiding layoffs. Those uses contrast with the kinds of one-time investments for technology, training, school improvement programs, and infrastructure that advocates and federal education officials say would have a long-term payoff.

“All we can do is deal with the money we have now,” said Lydia L. Ramos, a spokeswoman for the 680,000-student Los Angeles Unified School District. “This is education’s [Hurricane] Katrina coming down the road in two years when stimulus funding runs out. It’s really scary. We are going to take a...