President Obama's FY 2013 budget request includes another major spending increase for the Department of Education--2.5 percent more than last year--to nearly $70 billion. American taxpayers are calling for spending restraint in Washington, yet President Obama's proposals would exacerbate the existing bureaucratic maze of federal programs and…

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) targeted substantial School Improvement Grants (SIGs) to the nation's "persistently lowest achieving" public schools (i.e., up to $2 million per school annually over 3 years) but required schools accepting these awards to implement a federally prescribed school-reform model.…

This Quick Reference Document is being distributed by the Regional Resource Center Program ARRA/Fiscal Priority Team to provide RRCP state liaisons and other (Technical Assistance) TA providers with a summary of critical fiscal monitoring and support activities they may be involved in during calendar years 2011 and 2012. Like other documents in…

This article examines the recent expansion of the federal role into teacher workforce policy, primarily as embodied by the Race to the Top Fund of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Such recent federal teacher workforce policy reflects an important expansion of the federal role into a policy domain that deserves more attention. The…

Meaningful use (MU) of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) is an important development in the safety and security of health care delivery in the United States. Advancement in the use of EHRs occurred with the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which provides incentives for providers to support adoption and use of EHRs.…

On April 8, 2011, the U.S. Department of Education (USED) published in the Federal Register new proposed amendments to regulations implementing the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). The notice invites public comments on the proposed regulations, which are due no later than May 23, 2011. The proposed regulations are designed to…

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) targeted substantial School Improvement Grants (SIGs) to the nation's "persistently lowest achieving" public schools (i.e., up to $2 million per school annually over 3 years) but required schools accepting these awards to implement a federally prescribed school-reform model.…

This Quick Reference Document has been prepared by the Regional Resource Center Program Fiscal Priority Team to aid RRCP State liaisons and other Technical Assistance (TA) providers in understanding the general context of State questions surrounding Maintenance of State Financial Support (MFS) and Local Educational Agency (LEA) Maintenance of…

This Quick Reference Document has been prepared by the Regional Resource Center Program ARRA/Fiscal Priority Team to aid RRCP State Liaisons and other (Technical Assistance) TA providers in understanding the general context of state questions surrounding excess cost. As a "first-stop" for TA providers in investigating excess cost…

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), also known as the stimulus package, appropriated $100 billion for education and included $3 billion for school improvement grants (SIGs) to help reform low-performing schools. This amount was in addition to the $546 million provided by the regular fiscal year 2009 appropriations bill for…

Over the next three years, states will dedicate an unprecedented amount of federal funding to school improvement efforts at approximately 5,000 of the nation's lowest achieving schools. The $100 billion for education appropriated by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), also known as the stimulus package, included an…

The School Improvement Grants (SIG) program, which was created in 2002, funds reforms in the country's lowest-performing schools with the goal of improving student outcomes, such as standardized test scores and graduation rates. Congress greatly increased SIG program funding from $125 million available in fiscal year 2007--the first year the…

Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS) provide the information and tools needed to inform policies, practices and decisions at every level to improve student achievement and system performance. It is equally important that there are policies and practices to protect personally identifiable information and to ensure the confidentiality and…

This letter is submitted to comment on the U.S. Department of Education's (ED) proposed revisions to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's (ARRA) State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF), as published in the September 23, 2011, Federal Register. Overall, the Data Quality Campaign believes the proposed changes strike a sensible balance: they…

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), the federal stimulus package, will over the next two years provide all states with federal funding to support early learning opportunities for 3- and 4-year-olds. This investment clearly reflects Washington's acknowledgement of the link between high-quality early education and the nation's…