CRIST SUBMITS PAPERWORK FOR EDUCATION STIMULUS MONEY -- About 1.5 billion of the federal stimulus funds set aside for Florida's schools could be released to the state within the next three weeks, federal education officials said Monday. The U.S. Department of Education received Florida's application for the money late Friday, deputy press secretary Sandra Abrevaya said. The department is now reviewing the paperwork -- a process that will likely take about one week. The money won't be available to school districts immediately. After going to the state, it would trickle down to the counties through the state's education funding formula, which distributes money by the number of students enrolled in public schools. Miami-Dade Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said Florida's sending in the application was ``long overdue.'' Broward schools chief Jim Notter said he was ``ecstatic.'' ''Now, let's get the Legislature to pass the budget so we can get on with respecting and honoring our children,'' Notter said. State legislators are counting on the federal stimulus money to shore up the 2009-10 education budget. Both the Florida House and Senate budget plans rely heavily on stimulus dollars to fund education. There's no guarantee Florida will get all of the federal dollars; as one of a handful of states that underfunded education in recent years, Florida had to apply for a special waiver. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, however, has said he is willing to work with state officials to ensure Florida gets its fair share.

Full story here.

More on stimulus money for education here and here.