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Stimulus' End Puts Squeeze on Education Budgets

Principal Marie Stratton checks up on students in the cafeteria of Osceola Elementary School in Volusia County, Fla., after they were relocated from a portable classroom because of a tornado warning. Because of budget constraints, Stratton oversees two schools.

—Hilda M. Perez for Education Week

'Funding cliff' adds to pressure on strapped education budgets

By Sean Cavanagh and Associated Press writer Heather Hollingsworth

States are finally arriving at the “funding cliff”—the point where about $100 billion in federal economic-stimulus aid for education runs out. The loss seems certain to compound severe budget woes and could mean thousands of school layoffs and the elimination of popular programs and services in districts across the country.

The bulk of that one-time aid, part of $814 billion provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed in 2009, went to save the jobs of teachers and other school employees, as state and local tax bases and other revenue sources collapsed during the prolonged economic downturn of the past few years.

But states are required to have spent the majority of their stimulus aid by September, and most will burn through it even sooner, by the end of the current academic...