Guided by the philosophy that a better-educated population will lead to better job opportunities and long-term economic recovery, President Obama recently unveiled a proposed education package that focuses on community colleges, with a sizable chunk devoted to free access to online education.

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The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, signed into law on February 17, aims to lend a helping hand to not only employment, health care and taxes, but significantly for the struggling state school systems: It more than doubles the education funding of the previous presidential administration.

Of the act’s $787 billion cost ($288 billion in tax cuts and $499 billion in spending), up to $141.6 billion will go to education, according to the Department of Education. Granted, most estimates are closer to $120 billion, but that’s still a sizable sum compared to previous allotments for education. The direct funding of education (as opposed to tax credits, tuition grants, renovations and administration) alone amounts to over $77 billion, a 159% increase over 2008 allocations for the Department of Education. The breakdown of the education budget is laid out after the jump… (more…)