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ISTE Washington Notes News of U.S. educational technology policy and legislation, posted as a service of ISTE, the International Society for Technology in Education. Copyright © 2008 ISTE Guide to Acronyms used in Washington Notes

February 2008 Contents

• EETT Zeroed Out in Proposed FY09 Budget; ISTE Responds
• A Few Ed Programs Increased, Most Reduced
• Secretary Spellings on Budget Priorities, NCLB
• Congressional Democrats Criticize Proposed FY09 Budget
• Majority Leader Expects No Budget Resolution Until Next January
• NCLB Stalled; Leading Democratic Candidates Critical of Program

EETT Zeroed Out in Proposed FY09 Budget; ISTE Responds

On February 4 President Bush unveiled his $3.1 trillion proposed budget plan for FY09, laying out his vision for education over the next fiscal year.  The budget proposed $59.2 billion for the U.S. Department of Education in FY09 and, for the fifth consecutive year, called for the elimination of the primary source of federal funding for educational technology, the $267 million Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) program.  The Administration offered a similar rationale for eliminating EETT as it did last year: the program is "small, narrowly focused, ... (has) not demonstrated results, (does) not align with national priorities, or can be funded under other priorities." 

ISTE CEODon Knezek responded sharply to the proposed elimination of EETT.  "Zeroing out EETT makes no sense in the face of a tightening job market and stagnating test scores," he said.   "EETT provides our students with the technological skills and know-how to compete for employment in a tough job market, and create innovative solutions to modern problems.   Moreover, a number of U.S. Department of Education studies have shown that students are benefiting from EETT supported systemic reform programs that make strong use of technology.   This is not the time to take from our students the tools and knowledge they need to succeed in school, work, and civic life."

A Few Ed Programs Increased, Most Reduced

The only winners in the Administration’s budget were large programs like Title I, IDEA & Reading First, all of which received nine-figure increases.  The budget request also sought level funding for more than 80 programs, ignoring growing costs associated with inflation or enrollment growth in schools.  The only good news for ed tech in the budget was that the Administration’s proposal included $100 million for Statewide Data Networks program—more than double its FY08 appropriated amount. 

Big cuts and eliminations, though, were more the order of the day in the proposed budget. Besides EETT, forty-six other programs were eliminated in the budget and funding for eleven other programs was substantially reduced. Program eliminations included the Even Start Program, smaller learning communities and career and technical education programs.  Most of these same programs had been slated for elimination in the President's budget plans for the past three years, but Congress each year has voted to spare them. All told, the President’s budget axed nearly $4 billion in funding for current education programs. 

Secretary Spellings on Budget Priorities, NCLB

At her annual briefing on the education budget, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings explained the figures by emphasizing the President’s overall budget priorities—keeping America safe, assuring America’s economic prosperity and balancing the federal budget  by 2012.  Spellings said that she believes this budget “provides the necessary resources for critical programs that equip American students with the skills they need to compete and succeed in the knowledge-based economy.” 

She also said that in order to ensure this success, it is critical that Congress reauthorize the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) as quickly as possible. 

Congressional Democrats Criticize Proposed FY09 Budget

Many congressional Democrats criticized the budget, saying its domestic funding requests fall severely short of what is needed in our schools and communities.  Senate Heath, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Chairman Edward Kennedy (D-MA) responded by saying “As we work to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act this year, I am particularly concerned that the President has once again proposed inadequate funding for the law’s important reforms.  He has used the same old tactics of robbing other education priorities to pay for his modest increases for school reform. His budget once again siphons scarce resources from our public schools to create a new voucher program, and he eliminates the existing after-school program in favor of an $800 million voucher-based alternative. Our schools and children deserve more than accounting gimmicks—they need new resources to make progress on reform.”

House Education & Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-CA) cited the cut to EETT specifically in his statement reacting to the budget.

Senate Budget Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND), who is responsible for crafting the Senate’s version of an annual spending budget, disregarded the President’s budget proposal, saying, "[It] will be quickly forgotten." 

Majority Leader Expects No Budget Resolution Until Next January

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) agreed, emphasizing that this appropriations process will be very different from last year when President Bush used vetoes to keep funding levels at his overall amounts.  In a statement responding to the budget, Reid said, “The president had us over a barrel last year on the appropriations bills because we did not want another continuing resolution. But he does not have us over a barrel this year because either Senator Clinton or Senator Obama will be the president in less than a year. If we have to deal with a CR next year, we will deal with it. We will finish that by the end of January. … I look forward to working with our colleagues and hope we can do a better job with our appropriations bills than last year. But I repeat, we are not going to be held hostage by the unreasonableness of the White House. I hope we can work together and get some bills passed.”

With the President and Congressional leaders again far apart on spending matters and a new Administration arriving next January, neither side seems prepared to compromise and complete work on appropriations bills in a timely fashion. While Senator Conrad has pledged to bring his proposed Budget to the floor in early March and Congressional appropriators continue to indicate that they will attempt to move FY09 spending bills in “regular order,” most expect Congress to approve – as early as June – a long term continuing resolution (CR) that would temporarily fund all federal programs and agencies at last year’s levels. The CR could last until after the Presidential elections or until the next President takes office in January 2009.

For your reference, here is a break-down of how key programs fared in the Bush Administration's proposed FY09 budget:

NCLB Stalled; Leading Democratic Candidates Critical of Program

While talk of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) reauthorization has surfaced in Congress and on the campaign trail, very little legislating has occurred on that front as of yet. The House Education & Labor Committee, which took a great deal of flack for the draft reauthorization legislation that it circulated last August, appears content to wait for its Senate counterpart – the HELP Committee – to produce its own version of NCLB reauthorization. Senate HELP Committee Chairman Kennedy (D-MA) had indicated an interest in moving NCLB reauthorization legislation in early March but, with that date fast approaching, Congressional sources indicate that possible Committee mark-up dates have slipped into April.

The leading Democratic Presidential candidates have all made negative statements about NCLB, which has not improved the climate for passing reauthorization legislation. Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY), a Presidential candidate and a member of the Senate HELP Committee, stated recently: “I see an America where the federal government doesn't tell the teachers, and the principals, and the superintendents in El Paso what they're supposed to teach and what they're supposed to test. I will the end the unfunded mandate known as No Child Left Behind. And, together, we will come up with a 21st-century educational system for our children, where we look at each individual child and try to decide what we need to do to lift that little boy or girl to his or her God-given potential. That is the purpose of education, not test after test after test after test after test.”

Senator Barack Obama (D-IL), who is also running for the Democratic Presidential nomination and a member of the Senate HELP Committee, does not mention NCLB by name but his complaints about the nation’s education system closely parallel those of Senator Clinton. He stated at a Texas rally: “Houston, I am here to tell you that every child is our problem, every child is our responsibility, every child needs to be nurtured and embraced…And I won't just talk about how great teachers are; I will reward them for their greatness by giving them higher salaries and giving them more support… And I want the highest standards in our schools. We have to have high standards, standards of excellence in order to compete in this global economy. But I don't want our standards measured just by a single high-stakes standardized test, because I don't want our teachers teaching to the tests. I want our students learning art, and music, and science, and literature, and social studies.”

From the Washington, D.C.
Office of Bernstein Strategy Group
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