New America on Education

In an ongoing debate about the relative costs of the federal government’s direct and guaranteed student loan programs, some budget experts and private lenders have argued for the use of “market cost” estimates. They assert that official government cost estimates for federal student loans differ from what private entities would likely charge taxpayers to deliver the benefits and services the program provides. A market cost estimate would take such information into account.

Although the market cost concept for federal student loans… more

Children are a declining priority in the federal budget -- a trend that shows no signs of stopping. In 2007, the federal government paid out $2.7 trillion through spending programs and disbursed roughly another $1 trillion through the tax code. Rapidly expanding entitlement programs -- Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security -- and the country's defense system consumed the largest shares of the budget, while spending on children remained essentially stagnant and did not keep up with growth in the economy.

Our… more

In an economically mobile market economy, individuals and families are able to raise their private incomes, wealth, and ability (sometimes referred to as human capital) over time and across generations. In the United States, many associate economic mobility with the pursuit of the American Dream. Education, work experience, and saving enhance the opportunity for upward economic mobility. To this end, many federal spending and tax expenditure or tax subsidy programs aim to enhance economic mobility. But exactly how much does the… more

Over the past eight years, states have dramatically expanded their support for publicly-funded pre-k programs, and the number of children enrolled in these programs has grown significantly. States are investing in pre-k because research shows that high-quality pre-kindergarten programs can have a positive long-term impact on children’s life outcomes, help narrow the achievement gap between poor and affluent youngsters, and that the benefits of these invest­ments to children and the taxpaying public outweigh their costs. In other words, high-quality pre-k is a key weapon in the… more

The budget resolution put forward by Congress each year -- which sets out the congressional budget plan for the next five years -- and the ensuing budget process itself are enormously significant for education funding. However, the arcane procedures under which Congress produces and acts upon the budget resolution are often confusing to the media and education advocates alike. This confusion is made worse by political rhetoric and partisan spin. This brief by the New America Foundation’s Federal Education Budget… more

President George W. Bush submitted his eighth and final budget request to the Congress on Monday. Under the proposal, fiscal year 2009 discretionary spending—spending subject to annual appropriations—would be at the same level as in the prior year for domestic programs and agencies not involved in homeland security efforts. The budget request for the Department of Education fits this general theme. Fiscal year 2009 discretionary spending at the Department of Education would total $59.2 billion, the same level of funding… more

1) The administration proposes increasing No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Title I grants to school districts by 2.9 percent, essentially an increase matching inflation. It also proposes redirecting a greater proportion of Title I funds to high schools. Does this mean that school districts will have to cut Title I funding for K-8 schools, since districts will effectively receive the same level of funding as in the previous year? How will this affect the student achievement in grades 3… more

Next week, President George W. Bush will submit his eighth and final budget request to the Congress. How has he fared with respect to education budget proposals thus far? Answer: although President Bush made the No Child Left Behind Act, which deals with elementary and secondary education, the hallmark of his education policy, from a federal education budget standpoint, the Bush administration’s most lasting legacy thus far is in higher education. The New America Foundation’s Federal Education Budget Project evaluated all… more

The Congressional Democratic majority has made increasing education funding a priority in its fiscal year 2008 spending plan. Their Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (Labor-H) appropriations conference agreement proposes increases in education for fiscal year 2008 that, if enacted, would result in one of the largest year-over-year increases (in nominal terms) in Department of Education funding since the No Child Left Behind Act was passed in 2002.

Congress would like for much of the… more

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) seeks to improve student learning and narrow academic achievement gaps that place low-income and minority students at a disadvantage relative to their affluent and white peers. Evidence shows that the roots of children’s academic success or failure are already firmly in place by third grade and as much as half of the black-white achievement gap already exists before children enter first grade. Therefore, to achieve its ambitious goals NCLB must do a much… more

The White House and Congress are approaching a major budget debate that could markedly influence federal education funding. This is the first budget cycle since 2000 during which different political parties control the Executive Branch and both chambers of Congress. The federal budget and appropriations process is rarely without acrimony, but this year’s battle may be especially rancorous.

The Federal Education Budget Project finds that although Congress plans a significant increase in federal spending on schools, teachers, and students --… more

Access to quality pre-kindergarten (PK) programs varies widely among and within states. While PK enrollment is growing, large disparities in access and quality threaten to undermine the capacity of early childhood education to close achievement gaps. Research shows that at-risk children can catch up to their non-disadvantaged peers by participating in highquality PK programs that are linked to K-3 structures. However, fewer than half of children ages 3 and 4 engage in some type of early childhood education—before quality… more

In an era of declining federal resources dedicated to economic development, the New Markets Tax Credit stands out as a success story and a particular boon for metropolitan areas, which have received the majority of credits to date. Despite its complexity and initial doubts about whether it could be effectively implemented, it has shown signs of providing an important extra boost to many types of development in underserved urban and rural communities. As the program has developed, participants have become… more

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America's financial aid system imposes too much debt on college graduates, provides too much taxpayer support to banks making college loans, and demands too little of students assuming them. A new "College Access Contract" would allow low-income students to graduate with zero federal student loan debt -- and middle-class students to graduate with interest-free… more

From its inception as a nation, America's great advantage over its global rivals has stemmed largely from the successful development of its vast interior. The Heartland has been both the incubator of national identity and an outlet for the entrepreneurial energies of both immigrants and those living in dense urban areas.

The term "Heartland" is commonly used to describe the region west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains. This region constitutes the primary focus… more

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1) The PK-3 Workforce is Subject to an Array of Entry Standards. Public school teachers in grades K-3 must meet the quality standards of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). Pre-kindergarten (PK) teachers in Title I-funded programs also are regulated by NCLB. But Head Start teachers have their own separate entry standards. In some state PK programs, all teachers must possess a bachelor’s degree and have engaged in additional early childhood or PK-3 training. In others,… more

A significant, albeit still insufficient, expansion of access to publicly supported early education programs for children ages 3 to 5 has occurred over the last decade. This trend bodes well for children at risk of academic failure, but is endangered by uneven, halting, and at times inadequate attention to program quality in grades prekindergarten through three.

Expanded access to pre-kindergarten in recent years is primarily the result of individual state legislative, state agency, state executive, and state referendum efforts. States… more

States continue to play an important role in helping low- and moderate-resource families save and build wealth. They have been innovators in assets policy, whether on their own or through the forces of "devolution," in which federal funds and decision-making authority are shifting from the federal to the state level. These initiatives and experiments -- these "laboratories of democracy" -- have inspired and informed other states as well as policymakers at the national level.

The following ideas to broaden savings and… more

Sorting through credit card offers, deciding how to invest retirement funds in the stock market, picking the right mortgage from a myriad of options, deciding how to save for a child's college tuition—the scope and diversity of the financial decisions a family has to make has grown exponentially. Former Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan observed, "Today's financial world is highly complex when compared with that of a generation ago. Forty years ago, a simple understanding of how to maintain a… more

Why isn’t more attention paid to the need for a public and private sector revolution in job training? In the past few years, there has been much attention paid to improving America’s education system. By tradition and even by law, education is a state and local responsibility. However, education has seen a critical change over the past five years in terms of the federal role. The Republican Party has transformed from calling for a decreased federal role in education (many… more