4.2 jobs.

That’s just one of the interesting facts you’ll find if you dig deep into the treasure trove of data embedded in EdWeek’s latest Quality Counts report, released today.

The Editorial Projects in Education researchers calculated that for every $1 million in stimulus funds administered by the U.S. Department of Education, the country reaped 4.2 jobs. If you think that’s not a very good bang for the buck, then consider other agencies’ spending. One million in Labor Department stimulus funds saved 3.8 jobs, while the same amount of Energy Department stimulus funds saved 1.3 jobs. Scroll down to the end of this page for more agency spending details.

The Education Department, indeed, got the biggest bang for the buck. Fifty-two percent of all jobs saved or created through stimulus funding came via the Education Department. Of course, it’s important to note that a sizable chunk of the Education Department’s stimulus funds, more than $40 billion for the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, was explicitly created to save jobs. I’m not sure any other agency got such a large blank check to spur job creation and saving.