UPDATED ANALYSIS: ED Offers New Guidance on Stimulus Timetables, Waivers

Washington, March 10 — With $44 billion in new education funding expected to go out this month, U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan laid out new guidance that, he said, “balances the need for speed and economic stimulus with the need for aggressive and effective education improvement.”

It’s a balancing act that may prove difficult for many state and local officials to perform. The stimulus confronts them with an unprecedented amount of education funding combined with a presidential mandate to move the dollars quickly to stave off economic collapse.

The guidance, which the Education Department (ED) released late Friday, begins to fill in some of the gaps on how that feat is to be achieved. It contains new information on how and when the funds will be distributed, examples of appropriate uses and invitations to waive some federal requirements that could hinder the goals of the stimulus.