By J.D. LaRock
March 3, 2003

"Despite all the things competing for our tax dollars, the president's budget provides the largest dollar increase for any domestic agency," said Education Secretary Rod Paige as President Bush's FY 2004 budget proposal was unveiled February 3. At the same time, however, the proposed budget aims to reduce or eliminate funding for a number of programs popular among mayors.

Overall, the president's budget proposal appropriates $61.4 billion in mandatory and discretionary spending for the Department of Education, compared to $60.4 billion in FY 2003. Among other things, Secretary Paige highlighted the proposal's $9.5 billion allocation for special education funding, which he characterized as "the highest level of federal funding ever for children with disabilities." In addition, the budget proposal would provide:

• $4.4 billion for Improving Teacher Quality Grants, Educational Technology Grants, Grants for Innovative Programs, and Safe and Drug-Free Schools;
• $1.05 billion for Reading First and $100 million for Early Reading First;
• $390 million for state assessment grants;
• $220 million for charter schools and $100 million for a new credit enhancement for charter school facilities program;
• $185 million for research, an increase of $10 million from last year's request;
• $62.3 billion in student financial aid, to expand the number of recipients of grant, loan, and work'study assistance by 386,000, to an estimated 9.2 million individuals; and
• $12.4 billion for Title I grants to local education agencies, an increase of nearly $1 billion over FY 2003, and $3.6 billion since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act.

"We applaud the Administration's proposal to add $1 billion to Title I of the No Child Left Behind Act, but that still leaves states and cities at least $3 billion short of what is needed to meet the new law's mandates," said Conference President Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino.

In addition, Menino pointed out that the budget proposal would reduce or eliminate funding for more than four dozen programs currently operated by the U.S. Department of Education, including many aimed at helping at-risk children. Most significantly, the president's budget would reduce funding for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program — the main federal program supporting After-School programs — from $1 billion to $600 million.

The proposal to reduce federal After-School funding was made after the U.S. Department of Education released an evaluation of first-year sites supported by the 21st Century program. The evaluation concluded that many After-School programs lacked rigorous academic content, had low levels of student participation, and had little influence on student's feelings of safety. However, the report also found that many After-School programs increased parental involvement and changed where and with whom students spent their After-School time. After-School supporters have questioned the methodology used in the study, including a sample size of only seven local elementary school programs in the evaluation.

Programs slated for elimination in the president's budget proposal include the:

• Community Technology Centers program, which currently provides $32.5 million annually to offer residents of economically distressed areas access to computers and training;
• Elementary and Secondary School Counseling program, which is also currently funded at $32.5 million per year;
• Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnerships program, which encourages states to establish need-based post-secondary student grant programs;
• Arts in Education, which currently provides $30 million in grants to encourage the integration of arts into the school curriculum; and
• Dropout Prevention Programs, currently funded at $10 million a year.

In large part, the Department of Education justified the elimination of these programs "because they have achieved their original purpose, duplicate other programs, may be carried out with more flexible state formula grants funds, or involve activities that are better-supported through state, local, or private resources." For example, the Administration said dropout prevention activities formerly supported by the Department of Education could now be supported through youth programs funded by the U.S. Department of Labor. In its budget proposal, however, the Department of Labor announced that it intends to shift the focus of its youth program funding in FY 2004 to primarily support out-of-school initiatives.