K-12 Aid Forecast Still Hazy Despite Fiscal Cliff Deal

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden leave the podium after the president made a statement about passage of a deal on the so-called fiscal cliff that includes a postponing until March 1 a series of across-the-board federal funding cuts, including to domestic programs such as education.

—Charles Dharapak/AP

By Alyson Klein

Federal education programs have a temporary reprieve from what would have been the biggest spending cuts in recent history, but they still face a murky funding forecast under the measure enacted last week to deal with the so-called fiscal cliff.

The agreement reached by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama would postpone until March 1 a series of across-the-board cuts set to hit a broad swath of programs, including aid for K-12 education. The legislation gives lawmakers time to work out a more sweeping budget agreement, but essentially sets up yet another major fiscal fight in the coming two months.

Congress will need to come up with new legislation to cope with the cuts—known in Washington political circles as "sequestration" ...