The Ed Department released the first installment of education's $98 billion under the Stimulus in early April and the questions have started. Can states or counties cut back their own spending on education to patch a hole in the budget or avoid a tax increase? With a chunk of the funds allocated for existing programs, how will the Department or reporters know if funds are used for teacher effectiveness, work readiness and college completion, improving data systems and shoring up low-performing schools? Scott Palmer of the EducationCounsel, Michael Casserly of the Council of Great City Schools and Amy Wilkins of Education Trust, assess where funds will end up. USA Today's Greg Toppo moderates the forum.

Many U.S. universities are second to none, but the U.S. ranks 10th among other countries in the share of the population 25 to 34 year-olds with a college degree. Many students who start college fail to finish. As competition increases from other countries for share of top graduates and for future innovation, business and political leaders want greater productivity from higher education. What are our international rivals doing that we're not? Jamie Merisotis, president of Lumina Foundation for Education and MaryEllen McGuire, education program director of New America Foundation, discuss a new approach for improving quality, transfer rates and completion- the Bologna reforms affecting more than 16 million students in 46 countries.

Paul Tough, author of "Whatever It Takes," and a New York Times Magazine editor, will describe the five years of research and interviews that went into the creation of his book, which focuses on Geoffrey Canada and the Harlem Children's Zone. The book chronicles how Canada started out with social service programs, created the Baby College, and started dreaming big about connecting social services with education. The zone went through some bumpy rides, especially the attempt to create a middle school, but seems on its way to major success.

So your newspaper has cut its staff and you're one eof the victims. Or you see cutbacks in the future and want to prepare for the inevitable. Or you have a story to write that nobody's interested in publishing at your day job. So how do you go about freelancing? Experts offered advice on pitching ideas, shaking off newspaper habits to write analytically, and thinking broadly about the types of publications that might be interested in your skills. David McKay Wilson, formerly with the The Journal News in New York, is a successful freelancer; Scholastic editor Dana Truby, Kevin Carey of Education Sector, and Sue De Pasquale, who edits magazines for Johns Hopkins University, and Jane Karr, editor of the New York Times Education Life, all hire freelancers. They'll show you the ropes of what might be an interesting sideline, or your next career. This session was moderated by EWA’s public editor Linda Perlstein.

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan is EWA's featured speaker  who described the new administration's education plans for the next four years.