Schools and the Stimulus: How America’s Public School Districts Are Using ARRA Funds

Schools and the Stimulus: How America’s Public School Districts Are Using ARRA Funds is the third survey in the American Association of School Administrator’s 2009 Summer Surveys series. This survey finds that while school systems around the nation appreciate the opportunity the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding represents, a lack of flexibility in the funding and the use of the money to backfill federal, state and local budget holes have limited the ability of districts to implement innovative reforms and changes.

In August 2009, the American Association of School Administrators asked its members—school system leaders across the county—about the status of ARRA stimulus dollars in their districts. The survey covered a variety of topics, from what funds have been received and how the funds are being used to what the funds mean to districts and general feedback about the stimulus funding. Their response was clear: Though the ARRA funds represent additional funding and an opportunity to make significant changes, the realities of strained federal, state and local budgets mean many of the dollars are simply backfilling budget holes. The budget holes, in addition to insufficient flexibility in the funding to allow for maximum use by local school districts, are sizeable obstacles that many districts have been unable to overcome in their efforts to use the stimulus dollars to save and preserve jobs and implement innovation and reform.