Federal Education Budget Project

The Impact Aid Program is designed to directly compensate local school districts for: (1) local revenue lost due to the presence of federally owned, and therefore tax-exempt, property and (2) costs incurred due to "federally connected" students, such as the children of armed services personnel working at a nearby military base. Unlike most other forms of educational

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… 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

Senate Budget Would Boost Advance Approps By $4 Billion (CongressDaily PM, subscription only)

. . . "There's no reason to do it other than to increase spending," said Jason Delisle, an education analyst at the New America Foundation. Backers "want the money by any means necessary, but the trade-off is the debate gets confused and the budget lacks transparency." Advance funding for education grew out of a timing quirk whereby the academic year… more

As in past years, the President’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2008 holds overall discretionary spending for the U.S. Department of Education (ED) relatively flat. Notable proposed program increases, such as a near $1.2 billion increase in No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) Title I funding, are offset by comparable program decreases and eliminations. Overall ED discretionary funding is proposed to be $56 billion in Fiscal Year 2008, an identical number to that proposed in Fiscal Year 2007, and 1% less than enacted for Fiscal Year 2006.

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

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

For all of this year’s debate about the future of testing, accountability, and other policy issues around the No Child Left Behind Act, virtually no one has brought up the question of how best to give out billions of dollars a year under the law.

Until 2001, debate over the allocation of funding often dominated efforts to revise the main federal K-12 law, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Members of Congress concentrated on how to distribute money to the… more