More spending for college prep and special ed
States may be cutting education budgets to make up for revenue shortfalls, but President Barack Obama requested more money for the U.S. Department of Education.
Obama requested $50.7 billion in discretionary appropriations for the department of education. According to the department’s website, the request was $4.5 billion more than the 2010 appropriated budget.
A 2011 budget summary, illustrated in this graph, shows that special education grants and the College and Career Ready Students program are the president’s highest priorities and have been since he took office.
About $14.5 million is budgeted for College Ready programs and $12.5 million is budgeted for special education grants. Both budgets have stayed relatively the same since 2009.
Obama’s budget request did include a $3 billion increase in K-12 education programs and $1.35 billion to expand his Race to the Top state initiatives. The budget reaffirms Obama’s goal of recruiting and retaining effective teachers by funding $950 billion worth of competitive grants to school districts that build comprehensive curriculum.
Obama also asked for a significant increase to the School Turnaround Grant funding. In 2009 and 2010, $546 million was budgeted for School Turnaround, but $900 million is budgeted for 2011. Tony Romm with The Hill reported that the grants were aimed at improving the graduation rates and academic achievements.
“However, that money is conditional on low-performing schools adopting drastic reforms in the coming year — measures that include firing staffs, establishing charter systems or shuttering their facilities indefinitely.” Romms wrote.
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