DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

FOCUSING ON THE NATION’S PRIORITIES

Reauthorizing the No Child Left Behind Act

    The central goal of the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is for all students to read and do math at grade level or above by 2014. NCLB refocused Federal education programs on the principles of stronger accountability for results, more choices for parents and students, greater flexibility for States and school districts, and the use of proven instructional methods. NCLB is moving education in the right direction. Test scores are rising, and in most States, the learning gap between poor and non-poor students, and between black, Hispanic, and white students, is starting to close. In 2007, President Bush will work with the Congress to reauthorize NCLB while maintaining the Act’s core principles. Highlights of the President’s plan include the following:

The 2008 Budget proposes a $1.2 billion increase for Title I, the cornerstone NCLB program. With this increase, Title I will have increased by 59 percent since 2001.

    Helping Schools in Need of Improvement. The Budget provides $500 million that, along with over $500 million reserved from Title I, will help improve schools that have not met their NCLB student achievement goals for at least two years, with a particular focus on schools that have been low-performing for five years or more. This funding will ensure that States and school districts have the capacity to turn around the schools that need the most help.

    Enhancing Opportunities for Parental Choice. While the Administration expects most schools in need of improvement to turn around and meet their NCLB goals, some schools will not be able to do so quickly. The President’s Budget includes $300 million for two new programs to offer educational alternatives to low-income students in low-performing schools. Schools that have been low performing for five years or more will be required to offer Promise Scholarships, and competitive grants will be available to communities willing to launch Opportunity Scholarships to further expand parents' options. These scholarships will help parents cover some of the cost of attending the public or private school of their choice or the cost of intensive supplemental educational services, such as tutoring.

    Reforming High Schools and Improving College Readiness. NCLB provides an important framework for transforming high schools in order to prepare students for college and the workplace. However, less than 10 percent of NCLB funds go to high schools, limiting the law’s current impact. The Budget provides $13.9 billion for Title I, a $1.2 billion increase, which devotes new funds to high schools in proportion to the number of low-income students they educate, while also increasing funding for elementary schools. In addition, the Administration proposes to add two tests in two new high school grades, including an assessment of college readiness. Together with the existing tests in reading and math in grades 3–8 and once in high school, these assessments will help parents and teachers know how their schools are performing across all grades and how well students are being prepared for success after graduation. The Budget provides $412 million for these State assessments.

President Bush and Secretary Spellings visit with a teacher and students at Parkland Magnet Middle School for Aerospace Technology, April 18, 2006, in Rockville, Maryland.

    Ensuring our Future Competitiveness. To remain competitive in the global economy, every high school graduate needs strong analytical skills in mathematics and science. In support of this objective, the Budget provides a $365 million increase for math and science education programs as part of the President’s American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI). ACI includes an array of research and education programs that focus on improving the Nation’s long-term economic competitiveness. A $250 million Math Now proposal would support a new math program to help elementary school teachers prepare students for rigorous coursework and a new middle school program to identify and provide targeted services to boost achievement of middle school students who are not proficient in math. Other ACI investments include a $90 million increase for the Advanced Placement program to train 70,000 teachers over five years, with a focus on math and science, and $25 million for an Adjunct Teacher Corps to help recruit 30,000 professionals, especially professionals from technological fields, over the next eight years to teach in high-need schools.

Providing Access to and Raising Quality in College Education

    Access to quality postsecondary education for America's students is crucial to U.S. economic prosperity. In 2008, the Federal Government will provide nearly $91 billion in financial aid to 10.4 million students to help pay for college. In September 2006, the Secretary’s Commission on the Future of Higher Education offered recommendations to improve the Nation’s postsecondary education system. It called for more resources, student aid system reforms, and greater accountability and transparency. The Budget includes several reforms that are aligned with the Commission’s recommendations, including the following:

    Increasing Need-based Grant Aid. The Pell Grant program remains the single largest source of grant aid, helping 5.2 million students in 2006. The Budget increases the maximum Pell award from $4,050 to $5,400 over five years. The Administration also proposes to increase Academic Competitiveness Grants for high achieving, low-income students.

    Ensuring Accountability and Transparency in Higher Education. Taxpayers, parents, and students lack clear and comprehensive information on the outcomes of their investments in higher education. The Budget provides $25 million for a pilot initiative for collecting and analyzing student data to measure outcomes such as graduation rates and academic performance. The pilot would assess the feasibility of implementing a system that would safeguard privacy of individual data.

Restraining Federal Spending

    Reforming the Student Aid System. The Deficit Reduction Act of 2006 included several important reforms to help make the Federal student loan programs more efficient while increasing benefits to students. The President’s Budget builds on these reforms by reducing Government subsidies to lenders and guaranty agencies that are higher than necessary while still ensuring that all eligible students receive loans, and eliminating the poorly targeted Perkins Loan and Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant programs. Savings from these reforms will allow the Administration to increase grant and loan aid, such as larger Pell Grants and Academic Competitiveness Grants, in a better targeted, fiscally responsible manner. With these reforms, the Administration remains committed to making both the direct and guaranteed student loan programs more efficient, in order to continue the mutually beneficial competition that has led to better services for students and schools and lower costs in both programs.

    Terminating and Reducing Discretionary Programs. The Budget proposes to terminate 43 programs, including many that the Program Assessment Rating Tool has shown to be ineffective or unable to demonstrate results. These terminations will save $2.2 billion, all of which will be redirected toward priority programs, including programs that support the reauthorization of NCLB.