The stimulus is paying youths to get their GEDs in rural Alabama.

GREENSBORO, Ala.—Two boxes were drawn on the whiteboard. One was empty, but a side had been left open for something to enter. The other was closed—and a dog was trapped inside. This box was ringed by an electric fence, the teacher said.

Come the fall, this GED class will be funded by the stimulus. But only through some seriously nested bureaucracy. The class is part of a national program called YouthBuild, which is backed by the Department of Labor. YouthBuild pays kids who are about 20 years old to get their GEDs and learn how to build a house. For six months, the students split their weeks into two days of class, two in the field, and one in leadership seminars. They work for $25 a day. Forty-seven million dollars of YouthBuild's budget comes from DoL's stimulus funding; $550,587 will go to this program.

The Greensboro project is run by HERO, a local nonprofit that's part education facility, part housing authority, and part connector. The classroom's out back on its small chunk of land on Main Street. The central building is one large room, an activist playground squeezed inside a loft. The space is organized as a storefront—people can walk in for housing assistance, no appointment necessary.

HERO has run this program for two years, getting eight kids their GEDs. But without the stimulus it says it would have been unable to go on. Last year YouthBuild's funding was moved from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to the Department of Labor. Unlike HUD, the DoL doesn't earmark funds for rural projects, so HERO's claim faced fierce competition from urban candidates. Its application was shot down last year, forcing it to stretch the funds further than intended. The only thing that got it the money this year was the stimulus infusion. The two-year grant will create two new jobs and fund 24 new students.

Back in the classroom, handmade signs were stapled to the wall behind the whiteboard: "Brandon is blessed"; "Keisha is intelligent"; "Kimber is great;" "Cecilia is awesome;" "Ray is successful." Brandon, Keisha, Kimber, Cecilia, and Ray sat around the table, listening to Deborah, the woman helping them get their GEDs. They stared at the whiteboard.