Putting the brakes on school spending without stripping students of quality will require revolutionizing how districts are funded, and some experts say the timing couldn’t be better.

Local officials spent the past year wincing through painful cuts to schools. In Fairfax and Montgomery, home to about half of the metro area’s students, staff and teachers will go without cost-of-living raises next year. In D.C., summer school slots will be cut in half in 2010 and about $175 per student was sliced from the mayor’s budget request for the schools.