Coming on the heels of the state’s unprecedented budget crisis, the federal stimulus–also known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)–first received attention in California as a source of extra, much needed funding for schools.
In the months since, it has become increasingly clear that the reforms it embodies could have a bigger and more lasting impact than the nearly $8 billion it is providing to public K-12 education in the state.
The education components of the federal stimulus place a strong emphasis on four reform areas:
- Teacher and administrator effectiveness
- Data systems
- Standards
- Turning around low-performing schools