The Oregon City School District has decided to reject a $2.54 million federal grant meant to reward top educators, partly because of philosophical concerns over performance-based pay. Nicole Dungca, The Oregonian, Oct. 23, 2011

Educators are bracing for a tough reality: As difficult as budget cuts have been on schools, more tough times are likely ahead. Already, an estimated 294,000 jobs in the education sector have been lost since 2008, including those in higher education. Kimberly Hefling, Huffington Post, Oct. 24, 2011

Nearly $3.2 million remains from the federal stimulus boost Wyoming public schools received in early 2010, and state officials want more time to spend it. The Wyoming Department of Education plans to request a waiver to expend stimulus money past the Sept. 30 deadline. Jackie Borchardt, Casper Star-Tribune, Oct. 23, 2011 

About 4 percent of the obligated American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds remain available for expenditure. Teacher retention was the primary use of Recovery Act education funds according to GAO’s nationally representative survey of school districts. The funds also allowed recipients to restore state budget shortfalls and maintain or increase services. However, the expiration of funds and state budget decreases may cause districts to decrease services, such as laying off teachers.  GAO, Sept. 22, 2011

Two years after the first stimulus dollar rolled in, Florida’s public school system is learning difficult financial lessons. School districts throughout Florida are laying off teachers, closing programs and scrambling to identify other significant cost-saving measures — all problems made worse by the fact that Florida’s school districts used the stimulus money in large measure to delay needed cuts. Mc Nelly Torres, Florida Center for Investigative Reporting, Sept. 21, 2011

Jackson Public Schools has until the end of September to allocate more than $340,000 in federal funds that should have been spent on the district's most at-risk students, particularly those who have been imprisoned. Marquita Brown, Jackson Clarion-Ledger, Aug. 22, 2011

As students return to school next week, the impact of cuts made by the Texas Legislature to education funding will be felt in ways big and small. Some students will notice larger classes, others will miss out on field trips. Districts have eliminated teaching jobs and administrative positions.Jamie Stengle, Associated Press, Aug. 20, 2011

As schools start to return to session in South Dakota, more than one-fourth of students in the state will only be in class from Monday through Thursday. Nick Carbone, TIME Magazine, Aug. 21, 2011

Connecticut is one of just seven states that has elevated spending above the levels budgeted before the recent recession, after adjustments for inflation and federal assistance are made, according to a recent study by a nonprofit fiscal policy think-tank. Keith M. Phaneuf, Connecticut Mirror, Aug. 8, 2011

Hundreds of new teachers are leaving Michigan for positions in other states, a reflection of Michigan’s wealth of teaching colleges, shrinking number of students and budget woes that have forced schools to cut staffs. Terri Finch Hamilton, Grand Rapids Press, Aug. 8, 2011

Cutbacks in state aid for public schools hit Pennsylvania’s poorer school districts the hardest, slashing nearly three times as many dollars in aid per student compared with wealthier districts, according to an analysis of state data. The Associated Press, Aug. 7, 2011

A new report by Bellwether Education Partners analyzes how the i3 program is working so far and offers recommendations for the U.S. Department of Education. It is timely in part because today is the deadline for Round 2 applications for $150 million in i3 grants; proposals involving rural schools and STEM education get special priority this time around. Bellwether Education Partners, July 2011

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. The Government Accountability Office released a report on SIG implementation that found that local capacity and short time frames affected schools' ability to implement SIG interventions in many of the states GAO reviewed. GAO, July 25, 2011

In the case of education funding, state legislators thought it best to use money owed to schools to balance Minnesota's beleaguered budget: school districts would only receive 60 percent of what's owed to them, with the remaining 40 percent scheduled to be paid in the next fiscal year. The deferment would plug about $2 billion of the state's $5 billion deficit. The state would give schools $128 million to cover some extra borrowing fees and increase per pupil funding by about $50.Joy Resmovits, Huffington Post, July 18, 2011

California officials last year dangled an enticing carrot before administrators at California's worst schools: millions of dollars in federal funding to help turn around failing campuses. This year the state has rejected every application -- 25 in all -- that districts throughout California filed for the latest share of federal School Improvement Grants. Theresa Harrington, Contra Costa Times, July 12

After months of arduous negotiation and partisan squabbling, states across the country have produced budgets for the new fiscal year that in many cases will bring deep cuts to state spending, including money for schools. Sean Cavanagh, Education Week, July 12

For the past two years, the flagging budgets of local school divisions have been propped up by batches of federal stimulus dollars. But the money’s about to run out. The two-year time limit for divisions to spend most of those funds ends in September, and school leaders in some South Hampton Roads cities are wondering what will happen when the money is gone. Elisabeth Hulette, The Virginian-Pilot, July 12, 2011

With the recession decimating the coffers of states, cities and schools and pushing up the unemployment rate, the government in 2009 began pouring $830 billion into the economy in the hope of creating or saving jobs like those of teachers. Now that the flood of federal money has ended, cities and school districts must come up with new ways to cover expenses for the most basic services, including policing, healthcare, schooling and other day-to-day operations. Karen Pierog, Reuters, July 5, 2011

Teacher contracts expire in many places Friday, and for many teachers, those contracts won't be picked back up. State budget deficits and increased cuts are taking their toll on school districts around the country. All Things Considered, NPR, July 1, 2011

The Minneapolis school district will lay off 118 employees, including 52 teachers, and rely on reserves to plug a $20 million budget deficit for next school year. Corey Mitchell, Star-Tribune, June 29, 2011

A last-minute infusion of state education funds for the financially drowning Chester Upland School District might have averted the worst-case situation for students, but for now, at least, the district has laid off more than 40 percent of its total staff. Dan Hardy, Philadelphia Inquirer, June 29, 2011

In the coming days, Chicago Public Schools officials plan to hand out pink slips to about 1,000 teachers. The layoffs include the annual reduction in teaching staff because of school closings and enrollment declines, but they also include school-based budget cuts to about 150 supplemental teaching positions and program reductions, district officials said. Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah, Chicago Tribune, June 26, 2011

Community college students, already facing a 38 percent increase in course fees, will be among the first to pay the price if California state revenues come up short next year. Next will be rural and urban students, who’ll lose their bus rides to school. Then, finally, teachers and staff at K-12 schools, who may be docked as much as 3.5 percent in pay though additional furlough days. John Fensterwald, Thoughts on Public Education, June 29, 2011

The Philadelphia School District will get $53 million in new funding from a deal tentatively approved by City Council Thursday that calls for a property-tax increase of nearly 4 percent, but where the money will go has yet to be determined. Will hundreds of teacher jobs come off thedistrict's chopping block? Kristen A. Graham and Angela Couloumbis, Philadelphia Inquirer, June 18, 2011

School districts, including St. Paul and Minneapolis, defend their spending of short-term stimulus money for jobs despite a warning from the U.S. Department of Education in 2009 that doing so could cause a "funding cliff" where millions of dollars would abruptly disappear if not invested wisely. Schools were advised to invest in longer-term benefits for student learning. Daarel Burnette II, Star Tribune, June 17, 2011