I would provide technology, equipment, and training for today's teachers so they will be better positioned to teach students the skills they need for the jobs of the future, the ones that don't yet exist.

I think educators in the US should take this opportunity to really re-think the entire process of K-12 education. Is this the time to model Japanese or European education? Can we innovate a new model of K-12 education that will position our children to lead the world in areas of scientific invention - or social justice - or international relations - or artistic creativity? Let's not just put a bandaid on the status quo. Let's use our ingenuity and the opportunity this stimulus gives to really make a paradigm shift into education that's ready for the challenges of this century and beyond. Our ancestors made public education for all children a reality in this country when the status quo was satisfied to only educate the privileged few. Now is the time to take the next step and make public education relevant to the world our children will face when it's their time to lead.

I think it is very important to invest in teacher training. Teachers should have tools to enrich life os students and help them to develop their own tools to build a better society.

I agree with the three comments so far, especially as they suggest we completely rethink education p-16. We need to educate for the future, not the status quo.

One practical and positive step would be to equip elementary school teachers to make their classes bilingual in Esperanto and English.
This builds skills in grammar, greatly facilitates later language learning, cultivates strong attitudes to life-long learning and to intercultural respect and connection, and costs a maximum of $100 a class.
No prior training is required and materials are available from Mondeto, google it!

We have a lot of technology in our schools and classrooms, but teachers need training and support to effectively use what they have. Without consistent, high quality, just-in-time training, many teachers end up doing a lot of different things, but they don't really learn how to do things differently when it comes to integrating technology.

I also believe that we need to invest in our IT departments. A handful of technicians cannot adequately meet the needs of an entire school district. The techs in our district are spread so thin that we often wait for long periods of time for simple repairs or fixes.

In my opinion, every school should have a Technology Facilitator, in addition to the Media Specialist, who works directly with teachers and students to integrate technology into the curriculum in relevant and meaningful ways. Districts also need to hire enough technicians to support each school's hardware and software needs. Teachers will revert to traditional methods and tools (lecture, textbooks, worksheets, and chalkboards) if the technology they have is not reliable or available. It is criminal to think that districts spend thousands of dollars on "stuff" without spending an equal amount on teacher training and IT support.

If we expect technology to be integrated effectively as part of the teaching-learning process, then school districts need to provide the right personnel and the right number of personnel to get the job done. We need to invest the stimulus money in people first!

I hope that some of the stimulus money is spent on our school libraries. Literacy is so important to our country and how can we be literate society without opportunities to read. Libraries are places of lifelong learning and in difficult economic times our school libraries are first to be cut. It is critical that our children learn how to access, evaluate and utilize information to keep current on trends in employment opportunities. The Federal Government has not funded school libraries since the 1970's. It is time to change this.

Let's keep class size down and provide all special services needed for students.

I would spend a very large part on PD for teachers and working on redesigning instruction so that students are ready to deal with their future...not ours.

So many schools are too old, unsafe, and don't inspire creativity, sense of safety, or independent investigation... Teaching the students to care for the environment in a school renovated with use of solar or other alternative energy would be great. Building greenhouses for students to tend, for instance, could integrate science and business. There are ways that renovation can spark opportunities in more ways than just shiny new lockers or a brand new indoor track. Students could even be a part of the renovation planning right from the start...