CEC legislative update March 10, 2006

 

Senate Budget Resolution Provides Empty Promises For Education, IDEA

 

 On Thursday of this week, the Senate Budget Committee passed a budget resolution for Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 that claims to provide increased funding for education and IDEA, but in the end it only continues the trend of under-funding this nation's education programs. The House will consider its budget resolution in the coming weeks.

In February of each year, after the President has sent his formal budget request to Congress for the ensuing fiscal year, each house of Congress passes a budget resolution detailing how Congress will spend money on a wide variety of programs. These programs are categorized under functions, and appropriations bills, bills that specify how money is spent on federal programs, can include several functions under their authority. For example, Function 500 is Education, Training, Employment, and Social Services, and Function 550 is Health. Both of these functions fall under the Health, Education, Labor, and Independent Agencies appropriations bill.

When the House and Senate Budget Committees recommend funding amounts for these functions, the members of the appropriations committees adhere to these spending levels. If, for example, Function 500 receives $100, then the appropriators can spend $20 on the Department of Labor, $50 on Social Security, $15 on Training programs, and $15 for the Department of Education. Or they can spend the $100 on those programs any way they want, so long as they don't spend more than $100 total, and they can't take money from another function, like defense, to give more money to education. For this reason, CEC has asked its members in recent weeks to contact their members of Congress asking them to provide increased funding in the House and Senate budget resolutions for IDEA and Javits grants for students with gifts and talents.

The FY 2007 Senate budget resolution claims to have increased funding for education, but the overall funding for FY 2007 in the resolution is below the FY 2006 level, and the total money for discretionary spending is the same as President Bush's FY 2007 budget request. The Senate budget resolution as passed by the committee seeks to provide 20 percent of the full funding level for IDEA for FY 2008 through FY 2011, but this is achieved by providing $2 billion extra for IDEA in each of those years, and assumes that the additional $1.5 billion for education for FY 2007 in the resolution all goes toward IDEA. For FY 2007, the next fiscal year, the Senate budget resolution only adheres to the President's recommendation of an additional $100 million for IDEA.

CEC is appalled that the Senate Budget Committee is again ignoring Congress' 31-year-old promise to fully fund IDEA. Even the proposed funding total for IDEA in FY 2008 falls well short of what Congress is authorized to spend on IDEA under the IDEA 2004 reauthorization. The full Senate is poised to debate this budget resolution early next week, and it is our understanding that amendments will be offered to provide more funds for Function 500. When we learn what the details of those amendments are, we will make letters available to you on our Legislative Action Center so that you can tell your Senators that enough is enough and now is the time to fully fund IDEA!

Secretary Spellings Testifies on 2007 Education Budget; Defends $3.5 Billion in Cuts

 

On March 9, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee for Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education defending President Bush’s fiscal year (FY) 2007 education budget proposal, which seeks to cut funding by $3.5 billion.

Throughout her testimony, Secretary Spellings stressed that the Bush Administration’s budget recommendations to Congress emphasized competitiveness in the global economy. To that end, Secretary Spellings discussed specific requests in this budget recommendation, including:

  • $100 million for IDEA Part B – State grant program
  • $1.5 billion for High School Reform – The stated goal of this program is to ensure that every student graduates from high school with the skills need to succeed. This reform would also expand current NCLB assessments beyond the one grade in which they are currently administered.
  • $100 million Striving Readers program – This program would expand research-based methods for those reading below grade level, using the Reading First model.
  • $250million for Math Now – A program focused on implementing instructional practices for students kindergarten through middle school.
  • $90 million for Advanced Placement program
  • $12.7 billion for Title I Grants to LEAs
  • $200 million School Improvement Grants program – under NCLB
  • $100 million America’s Opportunity Scholarships for Kids – funding that would be given to parents of student who attended low performing schools who would have the option of placing their child in a private school setting

During the question-and-answer portion of her time before the subcommittee, members of the subcommittee from both parties grilled Ms. Spellings over the Administration's policies on numerous issues, including:

  • Congressman Obey's (D-WI) objection to the overall decline in education funding;
  • Congressman Simpson's (R-ID) agreement with Congressman Obey's critique;
  • Congressman Kennedy's (D-MA) concerns about IDEA, Pell, and Even Start funding;
  • Congresswoman Granger's (R-TX) concerns about the Department's programs on childhood obesity and physical education;
  • Congresswoman Roybal-Allard's (D-CA) concerns about Pell grants, TRIO, GEAR Up, Perkins loans, and the Safe and Drug Free Schools program;
  • Congressman Peterson's (R-PA) concerns about lack of technology funding;
  • Congresswoman Lowey's (D-NY) concerns about Perkins loans for higher education;
  • Congresswoman Northup's (R-KY) concerns about Head Start and after school programs;
  • Congressman Hoyer (D-MD), who stated, "The President's budget is sounding the retreat on meeting the goals of NCLB and expanded opportunities for higher education previously announced by the President".;
  • Congresswoman DeLauro's (D-CT) concern about federal student aid; and
  • Congressman Regula (R-OH), who voiced his concerns about dropout prevention, teacher/principal quality, and reading, which he feels was not adequately funded. He also added that he strongly agrees with need to increase education funding to meet challenge of global competition.

 

 

 

 

   

 
Last updated: October 5, 2007
Contact Webmaster