This paper examines labor market conditions and public employment policies in the United States during what some are calling the Great Recession. We document the dramatic labor market changes that rapidly unfolded when the rate of gross domestic product growth turned negative, from the end of 2007 through early 2009. The paper reviews the…

House Democrats recently unveiled draft legislation for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Widely touted as an economic stimulus package, the $825 billion draft legislation included as much as $142 billion for education. This includes the creation of a $79 billion State Fiscal Stabilization Fund to assist state governments in…

This report evaluates Department of Education opportunities to consolidate overlapping education programs, to find cost savings, and to strengthen its "gatekeeping" over schools' participation in student financial aid programs. It notes that, besides already proposed program consolidation, other programs that could be streamlined include…

Recent increases in the cost of food and labor, while affecting individual families across the Nation, are also affecting food programs supported by the Federal Government. In response to concerns regarding the impact of these increases on the School Lunch Programs, particularly, the Chairman and Ranking Minority Member of this Select Committee…

Hearings on the effects of recently enacted cutbacks in social security student benefits are presented. Since the Reagan administration proposed phasing out the social security students benefits, attention is directed to whether needy students who would have received these benefits will receive benefits under the other student aid programs. The…