States Plan to Spend Most Stimulus Money on Education Swiftly

By Eric Kelderman

The first nine states to apply for federal stimulus money meant for education will use most of the dollars to plug budget holes in the current and next fiscal years, and the funds will largely benefit public schools, not higher education, says an analysis released last week.

That pattern, if followed by the other states, means there may be little federal stimulus money left to shore up education spending in 2011, when many state budgets are still expected to have revenue