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Washington, Aug. 14—The U.S. Department of Education (ED) plans to allow states to use up to $41 million in administrative funds to defray the costs of significant new data collection requirements mandated by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

ED will publish a proposal in Monday's Federal Register that would allow states to lift statutory caps on the use of those funds for Title I, Part A and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) will merge the regular and stimulus portions of the School Improvement Grant fund, an amount totaling more than $3.5 million, and begin releasing grants in December or January, officials said recently.

Guidelines have yet to be released for the stimulus-revamped grant competition, but at the summer conference of the National Association of State Title I Directors (NASTID), officials said the decision to bundle the $540 million from fiscal year 2009 and $3 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds reflects a desire to "demonstrate that this is an area worthy of substantial funding in the future," said Carmel Martin, ED's assistant secretary for planning, evaluation and policy development.

Washington, Aug. 12 – The Office of Management and Budget added numerous requirements for auditing American Recovery and Reinvestment Act programs in a recent addendum to the 2009 Circular A-133 Compliance Supplement. The addendum includes special tests and provisions for Recovery Act awards, along with guidance stressing the importance of internal controls over Recovery Act funds.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 3 — $11.37 billion in stimulus funds — comprising the second and final allocation of supplemental appropriations for Title I, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) funding — will be released a month early, on or around Sept. 1, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced today.

The timing for the funds’ release, which had been scheduled for September 30, was moved up “to help states and districts expedite stimulus spending,” said ED Secretary Arne Duncan.

Washington, July 30 — States that want to receive their share of the remaining $12.1 billion in “stabilization” funds will have to meet augmented data collection and reporting requirements that go beyond the basic law, according to tentative guidelines released July 24 by the U.S. Department of Education (ED).