Free Stimulus Funds Webinar on Tuesday

Just wanted to let you know that Education Week is offering a FREE webinar about the stimulus funds this Tuesday at 1pm Eastern time!

Here's their description of the event:

"Economic Stimulus & Powering through the Recession

When: Tuesday, 1pm Eastern

What will President Obama's stimulus package mean for K-12 budgets? How can you make best use of federal dollars to protect instruction and extend achievement amid cutbacks at the state and local levels? Join our expert panel of practitioners and policy analysts on March 10 at 1 p.m., Eastern time, for this free live webinar on what’s coming down the pike and how to power your way through the recession."

If you've never attended a webinar, don't worry! It's very simple. You sign up, and they send you simple instructions. You use your phone to listen to the presenters, and use your computer to view the slides they provide you--that's all it is. To sign up, visit: https://event.on24.com/eventRegistration/EventLobbyServlet?target=registration.jsp&eventid=134093&sessionid=1&key=5391CF710026E8CEB2E0686BDAEFCA05&sourcepage=register

You can also submit questions ahead of time (using the same link above) that the presenters will hopefully answer. I submitted a question about the timing of the funds. I'm hoping they'll address how quickly the funds will actually make it into the hands of decision-makers because as we all know, it usually takes the government forever to pass down the dough! Supposedly the money has already been released, but we know to never trust that!!!

On another note, if even some of the funds are still being awarded to the states rather than directly to the schools, that can make things even more complicated. Every state could have a different timeline for passing down the money and different requirements/priorities in terms of how it can be spent.

The bulk of the money is for Title I and IDEA (special needs), and I believe the majority of these funds are usually awarded directly to the schools rather than to the states anyway. However, who knows how things will happen with these new special funds, so hopefully the webinar will address this question.