In February, President George W. Bush unveiled a budget request for 2007 that reaffirms his commitment to close the achievement gap among the nation's students and provide a quality education for every child. The request increases funding for the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) to $24.4 billion, up 4.6 percent from 2006, and up 40 percent since the law was enacted in 2001. Support for economically disadvantaged schools through Title I grants remains strong at $12.7 billion, an increase of 45 percent since 2001.

In an effort to support what works and cut the federal budget deficit, the education budget also eliminates underperforming and lower-priority programs while increasing resources for initiatives that promise improvement in student outcomes. President Bush requests $54.4 billion in discretionary funding for the U.S. Department of Education, a decrease of $3.1 billion, or 5.5 percent, from 2006. Much of that decrease is calculated against funding inflated by one-time costs for Hurricane Katrina relief. Even with the proposed reduction, discretionary funding for education would be up more than $12 billion, or 29 percent, since 2001.

Recognizing the critical importance of science and technology to America’s long-term competitiveness and building on these previous efforts, President Bush introduced the American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI), an aggressive, long-term approach to keeping America strong and secure by ensuring that the United States continues to lead the world in science and technology, in his State of the Union Address on January 31, 2006. The increase in NCLB spending includes $380 million under the ACI to promote stronger instruction in math, science, and critical foreign languages in high schools to give America's students the skills needed to compete in the global workforce.

President Bush’s ACI seeks to fill gaps in reading and mathematics instruction and produce results by establishing a number of new and expanded programs including:

Recent data published as part of the 2003 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Survey indicates that, at the elementary grade level, less than eight percent of students are taught by teachers with a major or specialization in mathematics or science. To meet challenges such as this one, the ACI proposes a two-step approach that provides professional development for current teachers and attracts new teachers to the classroom:

Building on the successful model of the National Reading Panel (established by Congress in 1997) and subsequent Reading programs, the American Competitiveness Initiative provides funding for several important programs aimed at discovering how students learn math, how best to prepare teachers in these disciplines, and what materials are most effective in raising student achievement and preparing students early on for more rigorous coursework in high school and beyond.

For additional highlights from the president's education budget request, visit www.ed.gov . To read more about the ACI at www.whitehouse.gov/stateoftheunion/2006/aci .

Sources: U.S. Department of Education, The Achiever , [March/April 2006]; Whitehouse.gov, State of the Union Address, American Competitiveness Initiative

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ANNOUNCES TEACHER INCENTIVE FUND

The fiscal year 2006 federal budget includes the Teacher Incentive Fund that provides $450 million in state formula grants to reward effective teachers and offer incentives for highly qualified teachers to teach in high-poverty schools. The remaining $50 million funds competitive grants to state educational agencies, local education agencies, and nonprofit organizations for the design and implementation of performance-based compensation systems to develop effective models that other districts could adopt to improve teacher compensation systems. Read more about this here.

Source: National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality [March, 2006]

NEW REPORT: RETHINKING HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION RATES AND TRENDS

A new report released by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), claims that high school graduation rates are much higher than typically reported. The report is timely as last summer the National Governors Association issued a report sharply criticizing states for failing to accurately track dropout rates. Since then, all 50 governors have agreed to adopt improved, uniform calculations for graduation rates. The report by EPI claims that high school completion rates have improved significantly for all students and that the black-white graduation gap has been cut in half over the past 40 years. In fact, the report claims that 75 percent of minority students and 82 percent of all students earn diplomas on time. EPI's report conflicts with the most recent findings released by the Manhattan Institute on April 18 that put the national graduation rate at 70 percent. The Manhattan Institute calculated graduation rates by comparing the number of ninth graders in a school to the number of diplomas issued four years later. The EPI report was based on official government data on high school completion compiled in several surveys by the Census Bureau and other federal agencies. Read more here.

Source: Stateline.org [April 25, 2006]

NEW REPORT: CAN COMMUNITY COLLEGES PROTECT BOTH ACCESS AND STANDARDS? THE PROBLEM OF REMEDIATION

A qualitative case study was recently conducted to investigate state and institutional practices for remediation in 15 community colleges selected for region, size, and urbanicity. The six states in which the colleges were located varied on the level of regulation of institutional remedial policy and were placed on a spectrum ranging from laissez-faire to micromanagement. The types of assessment instruments varied, and subjective measures such as institutional tests, course grades, and student self-report played an important role in placement decisions. The colleges tended to require that low-scoring students attend remedial courses even in the absence of a state mandate. A wide variety of practices were used to determine student readiness to advance in or exit from remediation. Many of the institutions had procedures designed to require remediation early in the student's program, but both assessment and placement mandates appeared to be softened either at the state or institutional level, with the effect of reducing the number of students who were required to enroll in remedial courses. Read more here.

Source: Community College Resource Center [2006]

QUICK LINKS

CA Community College Conundrum
California's community college system enrolls more students than any other higher education system. However, experts are saying that the institutions need new approaches to match the system's size with quality. Community colleges in California, which serve 62 percent of the college-going population in the state, receive about $4,700 in government funding per year per student, according to the California Community Colleges chancellor's office. In the K-12 system, that number is $8,000; at California State University, $13,000, and for students in the University of California system, $20,000. Although funding has been up this year, in fiscal year 1981, 60 percent of the total community college funding came from the state; 20 years later, under 35 percent came from the state. Read more here. Source: Inside Higher Education [April 14, 2006]

Oregon Has Widest Disparity in Funding for Rural Schools
Rural school districts in Oregon have the widest funding gap in the nation, and students in rural districts that receive the most tax money outperform those in rural districts that receive less, a new national study shows. The Rural School and Community Trust compared financial resources, poverty and community education levels of 132 small and rural districts with student performance on state reading and math tests. The research indicated that money had the highest correlation of four factors that showed an influence on student achievement, followed by teacher quality. Read more here. Source: OregonLive.com [April 18, 2006]