More Resources ED Officials' Testimony on President's 2008 Budget Request President's Budget Request for 2008

Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, thank you for inviting me to join you today. I appreciate this opportunity to talk about President Bush's 2008 budget request.

As you know, this is a critical time in American education. Five years ago, with No Child Left Behind, we made a historic commitment to have every child learning on grade level by 2014. We shifted our national conversation to focus not only on how much we're spending, but to ask also how well students are performing. Instead of just inputs, we're now looking at results and using data to drive decision-making, allocate resources, and improve education... as others in fields from medicine to business to government have done.

Because we're measuring student achievement, we know how far we've come, and where we need to improve... from the national level to individual schools and students.

My Department's National Education Report Card shows strong gains in the early grades, where we have focused our efforts. Younger students have made more reading progress over 5 years than in the previous 28 combined. African-American and Hispanic students are reaching all-time highs in reading and math. Achievement gaps between poor and minority students and their peers are finally beginning to close. More than 60,000 schools—over 70 percent overall—are meeting No Child Left Behind's annual performance goals.

No Child Left Behind is working, and going forward, we must preserve the key principles of the law: high standards, accountability, and the goal of every child on grade level by 2014. At the same time, we can use the knowledge we've gained to strengthen and improve the law... continuing the workable, common sense approach that we've developed together with states. Now that we've identified the schools that are struggling the most, we must target resources and personnel accordingly. And now that we've laid the groundwork for reform, we must raise the bar and better prepare all our students for college or the workforce.

To achieve these goals, our budget focuses on three key priorities: improving chronically underperforming schools; increasing resources and rigor in our high schools, especially in math and science; and making college accessible and affordable for every student who wants to attend.

First, turning around our lowest-performing schools.

Preliminary data shows roughly 2,000 schools are chronic underperformers that have been unable to reach standards for five or more years. And though many serve our neediest students, they're often staffed by our least experienced teachers.

Our budget provides 500 million dollars for school improvement such as hiring more teachers or if necessary, reinventing the school as a charter school. We've also included nearly 200 million dollars to attract our most effective teachers to work in high-need schools and reward them for results—an approach that's been shown to help students and schools improve. In addition, we offer immediate choices and options for families, including 250 million dollars in Promise Scholarships and 50 million dollars in Opportunity Scholarships for those who want to transfer to better-performing public or private schools, or receive free intensive tutoring.

Next, we must increase rigor in our high schools, where every year, about a million students drop out... and only about half of our African American and Hispanic students graduate on time. A recent report by my Department shows that even as high school grades have risen, student skill levels have actually declined in recent years... a troubling fact when we know that 90 percent of today's fastest-growing jobs will require postsecondary education.

That's why we've increased high school funding dramatically, while protecting resources for younger students. In total, we would provide nearly 14 billion dollars in Title I funding for schools serving low-income students—a 59 percent increase since 2001. We've also included 365 million dollars to strengthen math, science, and rigor throughout the K-12 pipeline.

Finally, in addition to preparing young people for college, we must ensure they can afford it. As Chairman Obey has said, in our ever-more competitive world, "access to education ought to be based on how much you are willing to learn and how hard you are willing to work, not on how many dollars your family has in their bank account." Mr. Chairman, I strongly agree.

That's why when we released our budget proposal last month, the President proposed the largest Pell grant increase in 30 years, raising the maximum award from 4,050 to 4,600 dollars. This committee has made important progress towards this goal with the recent continuing resolution, and I look forward to working with you to build on this accomplishment.

We've also increased funds for Academic Competitiveness and National SMART grants to 1.2 billion dollars overall. Together, these grants encourage students to take challenging high school coursework... and to major in the math and science-related fields that are foundation of today's knowledge economy.

As you know, there's a growing consensus around how to improve our schools. You've already heard from key voices such as Norm Augustine of the National Academies and Kati Haycock of the Education Trust. And I'm sure you've read the recent reports by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Center for American Progress, and the Aspen Institute. From parents to business leaders to the civil rights community, people across our country agree: we must address inequalities within the system... and we must better prepare all our students for college and the workforce.

As 9 percent investors in K-12 education, our role at the federal level is limited. But we can make a real difference for students by targeting resources strategically. We all agree that education is a top priority for our country's future, and we all agree that we must produce a balanced budget. Bill Gates recently said, "talent in this country is not the problem—the issue is political will." I believe we have the will, and I look forward to working with you to ensure that our students have the knowledge and skills they need to succeed.

Thank you. I'd be happy to take your questions.

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