NSTA
Legislative Update
February 11, 2008
President Bush Submits FY2009 Budget to Congress
On Monday February 4 President Bush submitted his budget for FY2009 federal programs, including education programs at the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Education.
For 2009, the President is requesting $59.2 billion in discretionary appropriations for the Department of Education, the same as the 2008 level. This year the budget requested for K-12 programs is based on the Administration’s proposal for reauthorization of No Child Left Behind.
The Administration is seeking increases for a few programs: Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies ($14.3 billion) are increased by $406 million or 2.9 percent and the Administration is seeking $1 billion for Reading First State Grants, an increase of $607 million. His proposal also includes $300 million for a new Pell Grants for Kids program that would allow low-income K-12 students attending schools in restructuring or that have high dropout rates to transfer to local private schools or out-of-district public schools.
The President is seeking to eliminate 47 programs at the U.S. Dept. of Education. Programs on the chopping block again this year include the $1.16 billion Career and Technical Education State Grants program and the Educational Technology State Grants, financed at $267.5 million in fiscal 2008, and the Even Start “family literacy” program, funded at $66.5 million. Congress largely ignored his attempts to cut these programs last year.
The President is seeking level funding for FY2009 Math and Science Partnerships at the U. S. Department of Education ($179m). To support his American Competitiveness Initiative the Administration is seeking this funding for other math and science programs:
The President is also seeking lower funding and a dramatic change to a current popular program. Funding for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers currently goes to the states then is allocated to school districts, non-profit organizations, and other recipients to finance after-school and summer programs. The Administration is seeking $800 million for next year’s program (a 26 percent decrease down from FY2008 funding of $1.08 billion) and would transform the program into a scholarship program for low income parents whose children attend schools that have not meet NCLB performance markers. Parents could send their children to an after-school and summer-school scholarship program.
The Administration is seeking $2.835 billion for the Teacher Quality State Grants (Title II B), which helps to ensure teachers are highly qualified. This is a $100 million reduction from last year’s funding. This year the $100 million was used to increase funding for the Teacher Incentive Fund ($200m, up from $102m last year), which works to expand support for State and local initiatives that introduce performance-based teacher and principal compensation systems.
Many in Washington expect this year’s budget process to be as equally messy as last year. Edward R. Kealy, the executive director of the Committee for Education Funding, a Washington-based lobbying organization, told Education Week that “I think [Congress] is going to ignore emphatically this last budget and write their own. I’m sure it most likely will bring us back to a replay of last year’s spending showdown.”
Proposed funding for education programs at the National Science Foundation fared better than those at Dept. of Education. For FY2009 the President is proposing $6.85 billion for the NSF, which represents an increase of $822 million (14 percent) over the FY 2008 level.
This request continues the Administration’s plan outlined in the American Competitiveness Initiative to double investments at NSF and two other agencies (the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, and the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology) over 10 years.
The Administration is seeking $790.41m for programs under the NSF Education and Human Resources Directorate, which represents a $64.81m increase or 8.9% from FY2008.
In the budget materials released on Monday the NSF writes “In FY 2009, a major focus of activities in NSF’s Education and Human Resources (EHR) Directorate is enriching the Education of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Teachers (STEM). Major activities associated with this focus include the Math and Science Partnership program (up $2.5 million to $51.0 million) and the Robert Noyce Scholarship Program (up $800,000 to $11.6 million).
“The EHR Directorate is also increasing support for research and evaluation efforts in STEM education. Major efforts in FY 2009 include a $3.0 million increase to $10.0 million for Project and Program Evaluation and an $8.5 million increase to $108.5 million for Discovery Research K-12, which supports applied research and innovation aimed at improving STEM education at the K-12 level.”
Watch for more details as the House and Senate react to the President’s budget in upcoming NSTA Legislative Updates.