Beware the funding cliff

EdWeek weighs in:

The ARRA, approved by Congress last February, included the $48.6 billion State Fiscal Stabilization Fund aimed at helping states put their budgets back on a firmer footing after the severe blow dealt by the recession. States were directed to use the money first to backfill any cuts to K-12 or higher education, then distribute the rest to districts.

But once that money is no longer flowing, 36 states will have to fill a collective gap of at least $16.5 billion to return to fiscal 2008 state spending levels for K-12 education, according to an Education Week analysis performed late last year.

This is, by the way, part of an EdWeek Midterm Report on the Stimulus available on their website.