Illinois will be getting three billion dollars in stimulus money

The state of Illinois will get $3 billion in stimulus funds, federal officials say, and now the question becomes - what do they spend the money on?

It's money President Barack Obama promises will save hundreds of thousands of teaching jobs.

But some states could end up spending on playground equipment or wallpaper and the president might not have the authority to stop them.

Obama says nearly all of the money for education in the Recovery Act is designed to retain teachers.

What do you think the stimulus money should be spent on? Should the government regulate it so we don't have another AIG situation?

Students talk to Obama about education

Some college students got a chance to ask the very-public President Obama some questions about education and its funding, since things seem to be getting more and more expensive for college. The response, was overall, very positive. 

President Obama proposes expanding national service and students would get an educational stipend.He is also pushing for more direct loans without banks as intermediaries.

"That then allows us to either lower student loan rates, or expand grants. We want to increase the amount of the pell grant so that it catches up with inflation."

Students applying for financial aid at UT Arlington felt encouraged.

Harley Nguyen says, "If they increased the pell grant that would help out a lot."

Erica Horak says, "That's kinda one of the reasons why I'm going back to school  because I know that they're increasing financial aid and making it easier for people to go back."

It will be interesting with this lagging economy and several cuts in education just how colleges and universities will fare. What do you think? Do you want to go back to school in these troubling times? And do you think Obama has the right plan for education?

The purpose of The Education Buzz blog

The purpose of this blog is to bring you the headlines concerning education. Hopefully, we can't update everyday and bring up topics that are both interesting and important. So welcome to our blog and come back soon.