Abstract
This paper reviews what the federal education block grant, Chapter 2 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act, has contributed to local educational improvement. In particular the block grant has helped to expand the use of educational technology, bolstered curriculum and staff development, and provided seed funding for local improvement initiatives among large numbers of districts. The scale of improvements, however, is modest at best, due to the low levels of funding and the tendency for districts to disperse, rather than concentrate, the funds among activities and beneficiaries. In addition, not all districts or segments of the student population benefit. In general, the block grant appears to trade depth of impact for breadth, which raises questions about the longterm viability or usefulness of this policy mechanism.