We're Going To Conference

The U.S. Senate approved its version of the federal stimulus bill. As always, the New America Foundation's Ed Money Watch blog comes through with a detailed summary of the Senate bill - and how it compares to the House version.

Big changes made by the Senate include: the elimination of all increases in school construction funding (what happened to the "shovel ready" mantra?), Teacher Incentive Fund dollars, Impact Aid, and statewide data systems funding; the halving of the increase in HEA's Teacher Quality Partnership Grants; a halving of the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund increase; a significant reduction in the increase for higher education facilities construction; and a slight trimming of Title I funding.

Although the education community is arguing over comparative crumbs in the overall stimulus package, this ought to be an interesting conference committee.