Bush budget proposal does not fully fund NCLB

1/14/03 - President Bush's budget proposals for Title I for fiscal 2004 would fall far short of fully funding the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, which he signed into law a year ago.

In his weekly radio address Jan. 4, Bush said he will ask Congress to approve an additional $1 billion for the Title I program in the 2004 budget. "Too many students and lower-income families fall behind early, resulting in a terrible gap in test scores between these students and their more fortunate peers," he told the nation. The $1 billion increase "will help close this gap."

Bush touts what he calls a 9 percent rise in funds from the amount he proposed for Title I for fiscal year 2003 ($11.3 billion). Yet when Congress enacted NCLB, it actually authorized $16 billion for Title I in 2003, which is $4.65 billion more than the $12.3 billion Bush is proposing.

For 2004, Congress authorized $18 billion for Title I, while the President is proposing only $12.3 billion. (Congress has not yet enacted an appropriations bill for 2003.)

The White House budget plan for 2004 would cap all domestic spending at current levels - except for homeland security - to make up for higher military spending and tax cuts.

"In this time of war and economic uncertainty, it is important that we provide our nation's students with access to a high-quality education and qualified teachers," says Dan Fuller, director of federal programs for NSBA and president of the Committee for Education Funding, a non-partisan coalition of more than 100 education associations.

"We cannot hold our schools and students accountable to standards that they are not adequately funded to reach," Fuller says. "Substantial education increases are critical to strengthening our national and economic security."

Title I of NCLB (originally enacted as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965) is the largest federal K-12 education program, with most of the funding targeted to the nation's most disadvantaged students.

NSBA will be working with both parties in Congress to provide the necessary funding to enable school districts to implement the costly new mandates in NCLB.

The Act mandates an extensive system of annual high-stakes testing, with serious consequences for failure.

This means school districts and states must spend more money to develop and implement these tests and provide more instructional support to ensure that students improve their performance.

NCLB also calls for states and districts to improve the quality of teachers, which will require extensive teacher recruitment and training efforts.

Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio), chair of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, praised the President's announcement on education funding.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, however, said, "Reform without resources is just hollow talk - not the real improvement our children need and deserve."

A group of 42 Democratic senators sent Bush a letter Jan. 7 seeking a $7.7 billion increase for education. The letter predicts NCLB will fail "without a substantial increase in resources."

It says, "We simply cannot expect most school districts to take the necessary steps to give every child an equal chance to succeed - in particular, to fix high-poverty schools, improve teacher quality, expand after-school learning opportunities, and help students who speak limited English learn the language - if we do not move quickly to fill this widening funding gap."

Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle (S.D.) introduced the Educational Excellence for All Learners Act (S8) Jan. 7, which would provide full funding for NCLB and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and provide school construction bonds.