Today the New America Foundation's Federal Education Budget Project released "A Primer on the Budget Resolution's Impact on Education Funding," by the project's Research Director Jason Delisle. The primer serves as an insightful guide to this confusing and often partisan process by which federal education funding is determined. Last week the Congressional budget committees adopted the first drafts of the fiscal year 2009 budget resolution, marking the start of the annual Congressional budget process.The proposals head to the full House and Senate for consideration this week.

"Questions are bound to arise about the arcane procedures under which Congress produces and acts upon the resolution. These questions and general confusion over how the budget affects education funding are made worse by political rhetoric and partisan spin," said Michael Dannenberg, Director of the Education Policy Program at New America Foundation. The budget primer aims to shed light on these issues by addressing important budget topics such as:

• Can Congress set funding levels for individual programs in the budget resolution?
• How is the appropriation process influenced by the budget resolution?
• What is the difference between mandatory and discretionary spending in the eyes of the budget resolution?
• What special mechanisms exist for enforcing budget rules and funding levels in the budget resolution?

The Primer is linked here on the Federal Education Budget Project website Ed Budget Project.Org. Please direct media inquiries to Erin Drankoski, 202-997-8727, drankoski@newamerica.net.

Federal Education Budget Project/Ed Budget Project.Org Website
The mission of the Federal Education Budget Project is to serve as a non-partisan, authoritative source of easily accessible information on federal education funding for the media, policymakers and staff, state and local officials, non-profit organizations, and the public. Our goal is to help heighten the quality of debate on federal education funding and support the development of fiscally responsible proposals to improve federal support for education. Please visit the Federal Education Budget Project website Ed Budget Project.Org for more information. The Budget Project Website includes funding, demographic, and achievement data for every state and school district in the country. For each district, our website includes data on No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) Title I funding, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) special education funding, average per pupil expenditure, student poverty, and NCLB achievement scores. A "Compare Your District" function allows users to compare school districts within states or across the country. All our raw data and analyses are available for download for independent, subsequent research and analysis by others.

The New America Foundation is a nonprofit, post-partisan public policy institute whose purpose is to bring exceptionally promising new voices and new ideas to the fore of our nation's public discourse. Relying on a venture capital approach, the Foundation invests in outstanding individuals and policy solutions that transcend the conventional political spectrum. Headquartered in our nation's capital, New America also has offices in California and New York. More information is available at www.newamerica.net.