Education Stocks Jittery Over Stimulus Cuts

With the epic stimulus package on the operation table in the U.S. Senate, market observers worry that spending on education may be surgically removed from the plan in order to drop the cost to something that is more palatable for Republican members of Congress.

As senators from both parties have jockeyed to get their own initiatives into the bill, the already steep price tag of $888 billion has steadily increased to a newly recalculated $937 billion. Several Republican attempts to remake the bill with more tax cuts and less spending have failed, so now the expectation is that senators will be forced to pare back some of the spending initiatives in order to gain enough support to finally pass the bill.

A vote is expected later Friday, according to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, although Reid had previously said the bill would go to a Senate vote late Thursday. ...