Education Northwest suggests the following principles for administrators and decisionmakers to consider when planning the investment of ARRA funds. While the infusion of funding is likely to be short-term, its wise investment could result in successful and sustained educational improvements for years to come. And while some funds must be spent to deal with current budget shortfalls, others should be devoted to fostering long-term innovation and improvement. The overarching principle should be to make sound investments with lasting benefit to the community.

For help in matching your needs to ARRA goals and targeted Education Northwest services, use our ARRA Service Selector.

To begin a dialogue, we suggest that effective use of ARRA funds can be achieved by investing in projects and initiatives that:

Build sustained capacity for improvement through specialized training or recertification of existing school staff or the creation of district and school level specialists in key areas such as improved instruction, more effective use of data, or dropout prevention.

• Some of these may be one-time, "just in time" investments that can accomplish their goal within 1-2 years, such as technology upgrades or training in technology integration.
• Other initiatives, such as train-the-trainer programs or the creation of specialists, may require a larger investment in the first years but can be sustained at much lower cost in the long run.

Optimize and upgrade the use of existing resources for the long haul.

• Invest in human capital by maintaining talent and developing in-district expertise.
• Invest in the physical plant by improving such things as classroom space, science laboratories, and technology access or products.

Increase the efficiency of essential services to reduce long-term fixed costs.

• Upgrade systems such as HVAC, lighting, and computers and software for both classroom and administrative functions.
• Integrate services to streamline central office functions with strategies such as cooperative purchasing and combining administrative functions.

Create a more evidence-based decision structure for planning, implementing, and evaluating district programs.

• Create policies, procedures, and expertise for evaluating programs and initiatives. Consider evaluating all major programs, new and old, so that if and when funds are more limited the most effective programs can be kept and others reduced or eliminated.
• Create policies, procedures, and expertise for prioritization, budgeting, and roll-out of new programs.

Reserve some funds for long-term investment in innovation and improvement.

• Consider investments in innovative programs with potential major benefits for students. These should be programs that will demonstrate their promise in their first years of operation, making a case for their future support by government or other sources.
• Don't forget to evaluate these investments, so that you can know whether to continue or eliminate them in future years.

These are only a handful of starting ideas. We will be adding more ideas, refining this list, and adding concrete examples as the ARRA program evolves. We ask for your contributions as well. To participate, send your suggestions to recovery@educationnorthwest.org. Be sure to include your name, affiliation, and contact information in case we'd like to discuss your ideas further.