DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Building on the Success of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act

• Improves access to quality education. Fosters positive change in the Nation’s schools by requiring accountability for results, offering more choices for parents and students, providing greater flexibility for States and school districts, and expanding the use of proven instructional methods. Successful NCLB results include:

  • Improvement across-the-board in fourth and eighth grade reading and math on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) with minority students posting all-time highs in a number of categories;

  • Increase of 11 percentage points in second grade reading scores in the research-based Reading First program from 2004–2006;

  • Establishment in all 50 States of systems for holding districts and schools accountable for improving student achievement; and

  • Enhanced educational options for students in struggling schools, including the choice of a better performing public school and access to free tutoring.

Source:  National Center for Educational Statistics

• Builds on the 2007 blueprint for reauthorizing and strengthening NCLB.

  • $14.3 billion for Title I, a 63-percent increase since 2001.

  • $1 billion for effective, research-based literacy instruction through Reading First.

  • $491 million for School Improvement Grants to help turn around schools in need of improvement, along with over $570 million reserved from Title I.

• Expands school choice to support students at risk of being left behind.

  • $25 million, or 12-percent, increase in Federal grants to charter schools.

  • A new $300 million Pell Grants for Kids to enable low income students enrolled in low performing schools to attend a private or out of district public school.

  • Reforms to the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program to make $800 million available in scholarships for low-income students to participate in after school programs of their choice.

• Assists at-risk students. Provide extra assistance for students most at risk of being left behind, including students with disabilities, migrant students, students in State-run institutions, and limited English proficient students.

• Emphasizes math and science. Ensure the Nation's future competitiveness by supporting the education components of the President's American Competitiveness Initiative.

  • $70 million to train teachers to teach Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate courses and expand low-income students access to these courses.

  • $95 million for Math Now, to prepare elementary and middle school students for more rigorous high school math classes.

  • $10 million for an Adjunct Teacher Corps to bring math and science professionals into high-need schools as teachers.

Sustaining the President’s Historic Commitment to Higher Education

• Makes college more affordable for neediest students. In September 2007, the President signed the College Cost Reduction and Access Act into law, which helped further his longstanding goal of increasing need-based aid for students. The Act provided $11.4 billion in new funding for Pell Grants over the next five years building on the Administration’s unprecedented funding increase for this program. The Budget implements and builds on this law and promotes access to higher education by providing:

  • $95 billion in loans and grants to help 10.9 million students pay for college;

  • $2.7 billion increase in annual appropriations for Pell Grants. This investment, together with funding provided by the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, will support a maximum Pell Grant of $4,800 in 2009 and allow the maximum grant to rise to $5,400 by 2012;

  • $21 million to improve access to, and success in, postsecondary education for adult and non-traditional students and $363 million in new loans for short-term training; and

  • A 50-percent tax credit for the first $2,000 that moderate- and low-income parents invest annually in 529 tuition-savings accounts.

Major Savings and Reforms

• In order to fund increases for education programs that are effective or show promise of demonstrating results while restraining overall Federal spending, the Budget reduces or terminates funding for 50 programs totaling $3.8 billion. Many of these funding reductions were based, in part, on the Administration’s thorough review of programs under the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART). Program terminations include:

  • Even Start, which received an Ineffective PART rating and failed to effectively increase the literacy skills of participating children and parents according to three national evaluations; and

  • Small, narrowly focused programs that have not demonstrated results, do not align with national priorities, or can be funded under other authorities, including programs such as the Exchanges with Historic Whaling and Trading Partners, Education Technology State Grants, and the Carol M. White Physical Education Program. Populations served by these programs receive services through other Federal programs.

Since 2001, the Department of Education has:

• Reformed K–12 education through the No Child Left Behind Act, which is raising academic standards for students, improving accountability in schools and States, and expanding parental choice.

• Aligned the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act with No Child Left Behind accountability systems to improve the quality of education for students with disabilities and ensure that all students achieve high academic standards.

• Reformed the Federal student aid programs to make them more cost efficient and targeted additional aid to the neediest students, including an estimated 5.3 million Pell Grant recipients in the 2007/2008 academic year.

• Assessed 92 programs using the PART to guide budget decisions and programmatic reforms.