BoardBuzz was happy to hear President Obama speak on the importance of educationprekindergarten through collegeand its key role in the future of our nation during Wednesday night’s State of the Union address.
“In the 21st century, the best anti-poverty program around is a world-class education,” he said. “And in this country, the success of our children cannot depend more on where they live than on their potential.”
Of course, most of the details will not be available until the White House budget proposal is released Monday. NSBA Executive Director Anne L. Bryant noted after Obama’s speech that the federal government must deliver more funding to help public schools meet the challenges they face.
“We agree with the president that the best anti-poverty program is a world-class education, and hope that his budget to be presented to Congress on Monday will reflect his commitment to pre-k through 12th grade education,” Bryant said. “Without the resources to deliver on this promise, we will fall short. With states in recession, with districts cutting staff, and increasing class size just to make break-even budgets, it will be hard to deliver a world-class education for every child. But with federal government support, we in public education can rise to President Obama’s challenge.”
In a conference call shortly before the State of the Union, Education Secretary Arne Duncan stressed that Obama is committed to education”from cradle to career” –and sees it as crucial to the nation’s long-term success. Duncan threw out a few budget teasers, including a 6 percent increase and up to $1 billion to overhaul the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Six programs all deemed duplicative or ineffective — will be eliminated and 38 programs will be consolidated into 11. Expect more measures to improve underperforming schools and a big push for prekindergarten and college access and affordability as well.
What concerns BoardBuzz is the discussion of a shift from discretionary funds to competitive grants for much of the proposed increase. Obama already has announced plans to add $1.35 billion to the Race to the Top program, and Duncan indicated that the White House sees competitive grants as the best way to leverage a relatively small amount of money to maximize reforms.
All of that is good, but what about struggling school districts that can’t hire sophisticated grant writers or don’t have the resources to try out new programs? With districts across the country in dire financial straits, those that could most benefit from innovative ideas may not be able to participate, and even a significant percentage increase won’t go far given the current state of school budgets.
BoardBuzz will ask these questions when Duncan speaks to representatives at NSBA’s Federal Relations Network conference on Monday, just after the budget is released. (And be sure to check School Board News Today for complete coverage of the Leadership and Federal Relations Network conferences).
I know people hate to hear it, but Obama is using Bush’s plan…same timetable…different guy in the White House…