Even as they seek to quantify the impact of across-the-board federal budget cuts on K-12 programs, some of the nation's neediest school districts are bracing for tough choices. The pinch from sequestration--or "the sequester," in Washington shorthand--is expected to be particularly painful for districts that depend on the most on the federal government to supplement their bottom lines. They include districts serving high numbers of disadvantaged children, students in special education, and English-learners, along with those near military bases and on Native American reservations. The reductions--roughly 5 percent of federal aid across the board--threaten to darken the fiscal picture in states and districts beginning to rebuild their education funding as they recover from state and local cuts made during the recent recession.