Education Funding Would Be Cut by $1.5 Billion. Under the May 19, 2004 White House Office of Management and Budget memo guidelines, the $1.7 billion discretionary funding increase that Bush is proposing in this year's budget would be nearly wiped out by a $1.5 billion cut in FY 2006. In February, Education Secretary Paige told House members that "OMB has advised us that the numbers beyond 2005 do not reflect detailed policy decisions by the administration." But the May 19 memo reverses that position. [Washington Post, 5/27/04]

2006 Cuts In Domestic Spending On Table
By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer (Thursday, May 27, 2004)

The White House put government agencies on notice this month that if President Bush is reelected, his budget for 2006 may include spending cuts for virtually all agencies in charge of domestic programs, including education, homeland security and others that the president backed in this campaign year.

Administration officials had dismissed the significance of the proposed cuts when they surfaced in February as part of an internal White House budget office computer printout. At the time, officials said the cuts were based on a formula and did not accurately reflect administration policy. But a May 19 White House budget memorandum obtained by The Washington Post said that agencies should assume the spending levels in that printout when they prepare their fiscal 2006 budgets this summer.

"Assume accounts are funded at the 2006 level specified in the 2005 Budget database," the memo informs federal program associate directors and their deputies. "If you propose to increase funding above that level for any account, it must be offset within your agency by proposing to decrease funding below that level in other accounts."

J.T. Young, a spokesman for the White House Office of Management and Budget, said the memo, titled "Planning Guidance for the FY 2006 Budget," is a routine "process document" to help agency officials begin establishing budget procedures for 2006. In no way should it be interpreted as a final policy decision, or even a planning document, he said.

"Agencies have asked for this sort of direction," Young said. "Budgeting is basically a year-long process, and you have to start somewhere. They'll get more guidance as the year goes along."

The funding levels referred to in the memo would be a tiny slice out of the federal budget -- $2.3 billion, or 0.56 percent, out of the $412.7 billion requested for fiscal 2005 for domestic programs and homeland security that is subject to Congress's annual discretion.

But the cuts are politically sensitive, targeting popular programs that Bush has been touting on the campaign trail. The Education Department; a nutrition program for women, infants and children; Head Start; and homeownership, job-training, medical research and science programs all face cuts in 2006.

"Despite [administration] denials, this memorandum confirms what we suspected all along," said Thomas S. Kahn, Democratic staff director on the House Budget Committee. "Next February, the administration plans to propose spending cuts in key government services to pay for oversized tax cuts."

But with the budget deficit exceeding $400 billion this year, tough and painful cuts are unavoidable, said Brian M. Riedl, a budget analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation.

Federal agencies' discretionary spending has risen 39 percent in the past three years. "I think the public is ready for spending cuts," Riedl said. "Not only does the public understand there's a lot of waste in the federal budget, but the public is ready to make sacrifices during the war on terror."

The administration has widely touted a $1.7 billion increase in discretionary funding for the Education Department in its 2005 budget, but the 2006 guidance would pare that back by $1.5 billion. The Department of Veterans Affairs is scheduled to get a $519 million spending increase in 2005, to $29.7 billion, and a $910 million cut in 2006 that would bring its budget below the 2004 level.

Also slated for cuts are the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Science Foundation, the Small Business Administration, the Transportation Department, the Social Security Administration, the Interior Department and the Army Corps of Engineers.

Agencies would have the option of preserving current funding levels for programs under their control if they find money from other parts of their budget. But the computer printout contains specific program cuts.

The Women, Infants and Children nutrition program was funded at $4.7 billion for the fiscal year beginning in October, enough to serve the 7.9 million people expected to be eligible. But in 2006, the program would be cut by $122 million. Head Start, the early-childhood education program for the poor, would lose $177 million, or 2.5 percent of its budget, in fiscal 2006.

The $78 million funding increase that Bush has touted for a homeownership program in 2005 would be nearly reversed in 2006 with a $53 million cut. National Institutes of Health spending would be cut 2.1 percent in 2006, to $28 billion, after a $764 million increase for 2005 that brought the NIH budget to $28.6 billion.

Even homeland security -- a centerpiece of the Bush reelection campaign -- would be affected. Funding would slip in 2006 by $1 billion, to $29.6 billion, although that would still be considerably higher than the $26.6 billion devoted to that field in 2004, according to an analysis of the computer printout by House Budget Committee Democrats.

Publicly, the administration has been dismissive of such figures. In February, Young said spending levels beyond 2005 were generated by a computer after administration policymakers set a growth limit of 3 percent for all programs, including defense, but set out multiyear decisions for only a handful of major initiatives.

Education Secretary Roderick R. Paige told House members in February: "It is my understanding that long-term estimates are calculated by formula. OMB has advised us that the numbers beyond 2005 do not reflect detailed policy decisions by this administration. They are roughly held estimates, and so we will have to await the policy decisions to draw conclusions about what the funding level will be in years outside or years in front of 2005."

The May 19 memo contains no such caveats.

"Continuing the strategy of last year's Budget, the 2006 Budget will constrain discretionary and mandatory spending while supporting national priorities: winning the war on terror, protecting the homeland, and strengthening the economy," the memo states.

© 2004 The Washington Post Company
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US Newswire; 5/27/2004
WASHINGTON, May 27, 2004 (U.S. Newswire via COMTEX)

Following is a fact sheet on education, released today by John Kerry for President:

PAIGE MISLEADS ON BUSH EDUCATION RECORD

Kerry campaign spokesman Phil Singer said: "Clearly, the Bush Administration knows no shame. The very same day we learn the Bush has a secret plan to cut education funding by $1.5 billion, they falsely attack John Kerry's record. John Kerry has a plan to strengthen education in America, while all George Bush offers is empty promises."

BUSH BROKE PROMISES OF NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND

Bush Cuts FY 2006 Budget by $1.5 Billion. A May 2004 OMB memo reveals that FY 2006 spending for the Department of Education will be cut by $1.5 billion. (Washington Post, 5/27/04)

Bush Underfunded No Child Left Behind by More Than $26 Billion. Over the last four years, George Bush has underfunded the No Child Left Behind Act by $26.6 billion. Bush's FY 2005 budget proposes $24.9 billion for Elementary and Secondary Education Act programs, $9.4 billion less than was authorized under NCLB. (President's FY 2005 Budget, http://www.ed.gov ; historical data at http://www.ed.gov )

Study Commissioned by Ohio Legislature Finds Unfunded No Child Left Behind Mandates Will Reach $1.5 Billion a Year in Ohio. A study commissioned by the Republican-controlled Ohio legislature and released in January 2004 found No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandates will cost Ohio $450 million in the next fiscal year, while the state will receive only $44 million in additional federal funds. By the 2013-2014 school year, the cost will rise to $1.5 billion. (Ohio Department of Education, Cost of Implementing NCLB, Jan. 2004, http://www.ode.state.oh.us/legislator/Cost(under)of(under)Implemen ting(under)NCLB.asp)

Toledo Schools Hurt By Tight Budgets. In the past year, the Toledo School District was forced to eliminate 90 teachers through layoffs and attritions. It will be forced to cut an additional $6 million in the 2004-2005 budget, with $14 million in cuts to be authorized for the 2005-2006 school year. (Plain Dealer, 5/2/04; Toledo Blade, 5/22/04)

Bush Proposing to Eliminate Even Start, $247 Million Family Literacy Program. Despite Bush's promise to make reading a priority, he is proposing to eliminate the Even Start program that promotes young children and parents reading together in the home. Laura Bush herself has promoted these programs, stating, "Family literacy programs. . . work on the front lines of the battle against illiteracy." (House Budget Committee Democratic Caucus, 2/6/04, http://www.house.gov/budget(under)democrats ; Texas Center for the Advancement of Literacy and Learning, http://www-tcall.tamu.edu/bbush/bbtf.htm )

Bush Abandons Promise to Support Teacher Quality. Bush said, "As we ask more of our teachers, we must take their side," yet he has repeatedly failed to live up to his promises to increase funding for teacher quality initiatives. NCLB requires that all teachers be "highly qualified" by the 2005-2006 school year. Yet, national data from the Department of Education and other sources indicates that in 1999-2000, only 54 percent of the nation's secondary teachers met the requirements set in NCLB. Bush's 2005 budget provides a paltry 1.9 percent increase ($67 million) over the 2004 enacted levels. In his previous budget he actually sought to cut teacher quality programs by $268 million (7.9 percent). (Bush in Minneapolis, MN, 3/4/02; Department of Education, http://www.nochildleftbehind.gov ; Center on Education Policy, From the Capital to the Classroom, Jan. 2004, http://www.ctredpol.org ; Center on Education Policy, From the Capital to the Classroom, Jan. 2004, http://www.ctredpol.org ; House Budget Committee Democratic Caucus, 2/6/04, http://www.house.gov/budget(under)democrats ; House Budget Committee Minority Staff, 3/9/03; House Appropriations Committee Minority Staff, "President Bush's FY 2004 Budget, Department of Education, A Preliminary Analysis, 2/3/03; House Democratic Staff of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, 2/5/02)

Bush Refuses to Fund School Modernization Projects. In 2002, President Bush fought for the repeal of a new federal initiative to modernize America's schools and his budget fails to include any dedicated resources to address the $127 billion backlog in school repairs. Meanwhile, almost one-third of all public school buildings are in a serious state of disrepair. As a result, more than 15 million students learn in facilities that have substandard heating, ventilation, plumbing, and roofing systems. (National Center for Education Statistics, 1/99; GAO Report, School Facilities, 3/00; American Institute of Architects, Good Enough for Congress?; http://www.e-architect.com ; House Democratic Staff of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, 2/5/02)

KERRY PROPOSES SOLUTIONS FOR PROBLEMS OF NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND

Kerry Has Consistently Criticized Bush's for His Failure to Fund "No Child Left Behind" Kerry began criticizing President Bush's education plans in 2001 when he declared: "We will show President Bush how you leave no child behind," Kerry said. Since then, John Kerry has been a strong voice criticizing President Bush for failing to fund Ted Kennedy's No Child Left Behind Education measure. "It is long since time we had a president who made real the words 'leave no child behind'," Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts told a child advocacy group in April. "I am running for president to hold this president accountable for making a mockery of those words." And: "By signing the No Child Left Behind Act and then breaking his promise by not giving schools the resources to help meet new standards, George Bush has undermined public education and left millions of children behind." (Boston Herald, 6/10/01; Associated Press, 6/27/03)

Kerry criticized NCLB for failing to fully fund reforms. "This is a fresh new approach to public education that focuses on student achievement and provides new resources to help them improve it," said Sen. John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat." The resources are not what they need to be to guarantee success," he added. But, like many other senators, Kerry vowed to seek additional funding increases next year. (The Baltimore Sun, December 19, 2001)

Kerry Fought Bush for Better Accountability and Funding. In February 2001, John Kerry joined other Democrats to seek common ground on education reform with the president. Kerry signed a letter to the president that expressed his commitment to accountability, assuming that the federal government provided adequate funding. "...we have some significant questions and concerns about your proposal, which we want to bring to your attention. First, we believe that if we are to demand high standards of accountability for public schools, particularly those in disadvantaged communities, then we must provide them with additional resources to help them meet these new benchmarks." (Congressional Press Releases, 2/26/01)

Kerry Cautioned President Bush Against Denying Proper Funding for Testing and Accountability.

"My concern is that once we know where the gaps exist, once we know how a child needs to be helped, we will not provide the resources necessary to ensure that all students are able to reach proficiency. It is my sincere hope that Congress and the States will continue to recognize that reform and resources go hand-in- hand. Resources without accountability is a waste of money, and accountability without resources is a waste of time. The two together are key to successful reform." (Kerry Senate Testimony on No Child Left Behind Act Of 2001--Conference Report, 12/18/01)

Kerry has a strong record of supporting teacher training and increasing the number of teachers. John Kerry has voted more than twenty times to increase spending on teacher training, teacher pay, and to increase the number of teachers in America's schools.

John Kerry has a strong record of support school modernization and improvement. Kerry has voted more than fifteen times to increase funding to repair American schools in disrepair.

ROD PAIGE'S HOUSTON SCHOOLS USED "ENRON ACCOUNTING" TO PRODUCE FALSE IMPROVEMENTS

New York Times Editorial Said HISD Used "Educational Equivalent of Enron's Accounting." A New York Times editorial criticized the Houston school district, calling its accountability data "literally unbelievable," and "the educational equivalent of Enron's accounting results." Rod Paige served as the superintendent of the Houston Independent School District from 1994 through 2001, when he joined the Bush administration as the Secretary of Education. The New York Times reported that Paige was nominated for the cabinet position "largely on the strength of his success here (with the Houston schools.)" (New York Times, editorial, 7/21/03; 7/11/03)

State Audit Found 3000 Houston Dropouts Fraudulently Reported. A Texas Education Agency probe into 12 Houston Independent School District high schools and 4 other district schools found that thousands of students were not counted as dropouts when they should have been. The state audit found that more than half of the 5,500 students that stopped attending school during the 2000- 2001 school year, 3,000 in total, were not counted as dropouts even though the schools had no proof that they were continuing their education elsewhere. The Houston schools reported a 1.5 percent dropout rate that year. (New York Times, 7/11/03)

Paid for by John Kerry for President, Inc.
http://www.usnewswire.com

and then there is:

Bush's Budget Fails Education: An Issue by Issue Analysis of how Bush Misses the Mark
NOTES Are in the link:

President Bush was elected, promising to "leave no child behind" in our schools. His signature reform legislation imposed unprecedented federal mandates on schools, while promising the resources to make them work. With this budget, the president breaks that promise. Education funding fares better than most areas of domestic investment, but this budget starves the president's own pledge on funding by a staggering $9.4 billion next year, totaling more than $26 billion since the reform was enacted. Total spending for education and training will constitute only 3.6% of the federal budget next year. Worse, real expenditures are slated to take cuts over the next five years. No wonder Republican legislatures from Virginia to Utah are already in revolt against the unfunded mandates of No Child Left Behind.

But the president's education failure goes beyond his broken promise on his own reforms. As his budget statement says, "in an increasingly complex and competitive world, the education of our children has never been more important." Our children's success requires meeting monumental challenges: the largest number of students in schools ever, the pending need for millions of new teachers, one in three schools forced to use trailers as classrooms, college tuitions soaring. Yet across the country, school budgets are getting hammered. We desperately need an education president, a president who will summon the nation to meet the challenge of educating the next generation. And here President Bush is simply absent without leave.

The following charts the gulf between the true challenge the country faces and the president's default. It illustrates how far we are from even providing the basics.

Every child should come to school ready to learn

Universal Pre-School
The Challenge Head Start is only serving half of eligible children and Early Head Start only serves 5% of eligible children.1 Working class families find good preschool ever more difficult to secure and to afford.
The Need The Committee for Economic Development, formed by major US corporations, reports that $25-$35 billion annually is needed to ensure that all children lacking a pre-kindergarten education receive one.2 This is less than half of the annual tax cuts pocketed by millionaires in the president's tax plan.3
What Bush Proposes Bush's budget for Head Start fails to keep up with inflation, requiring a cut in actual services.

Children's Health Care
The Challenge 9 million children have no health insurance and 20% of two year olds have not been immunized.4 And many states are rolling back eligibility for children in health programs - 25 states cut back eligibility last year, with as many as 650,000 children losing health-care coverage.5
The Need The Children's Defense Fund states that $16 billion annually would provide health care to all uninsured children in America.6 This is one-fourth of the annual sum the President proposes to spend on developing new weapons, in an arms race with ourselves.7
What Bush Proposes Bush proposed a $900 million increase in the Children's Health Insurance Program - helping less than 5% of the children in need.8

Schools should have standards and accountability with the resources to meet them

The Challenge The achievement gap still remains large for low-income students, as well as for African American and Latino students. There are six million students on the verge of dropping out of high school,9 and a quarter of high-school students read below a basic level.10 Good teachers are a key to improving student achievement, but 20% of teachers retire within three years, and in urban communities 50% leave the profession in five years - in part due to low pay and a lack of support from the school system.11
The Need A recent academic study concludes that an additional $84-$148 billion annually is required to fulfill the goals of No Child Left Behind and assist disadvantaged students.12 $84 billion is about what the president asked for in supplemental funds to pay for occupation and nation building activities in Iraq and Afghanistan this year.
What Bush Proposes Bush short-changed his own promise under No Child Left Behind by $9.4 billion for 2005, totaling more than $26 billion since the law was enacted.13 He is imposing mandates without giving the schools the resources they need to meet the challenge.

Every child should attend a decent and safe school

The Challenge On average America's schools are 40 years old14 and a building in a third of our schools needs widespread repair or replacement.15 One in three schools use trailers or portable classrooms to house students.16
The Need The National Education Association estimates that more than $53 billion is required to ensure that all schools have adequate infrastructure for internet access, computers, and technical assistance.17 $268 billion is needed in repairs simply to bring schools up to basic standards.18
What Bush Proposes Bush proposed no additional funds for federal maintenance and construction programs, leaving funding at $54 million - just enough to build six and a quarter medium sized schools.19

After school programs are vital in a society of working parents

The Challenge Most school-age children have working parents,20 and up to 15 million children return to an empty house after school.21 After-school programs have been shown to increase academic achievement, and unsupervised children have higher rates of criminal activity and drug use, but after-school programs are being cut back across the country.22
The Need After-school advocates, 60 House representatives and all 14 female Senators asked the federal government to provide $2 billion annually for after-school programs.23 $2 billion annually over the next ten years is just over 2% of the new tax cuts the president proposes in this budget.24
What Bush Proposes Bush froze funding on after-school programs, not even keeping up with inflation. This is only half of the funding promised for these programs, depriving 1.3 million children of after school programs.25

College should be affordable for every student who earns admission

The Challenge Tuition at public institutions rose by 14% last year.26 400,000 qualified high school graduates will not pursue a full-time, four year degree because of an inability to pay.27 More than 100,000 students are in danger of dropping out of school due to increased tuition costs. 28 Even worse, college costs stop nearly half of low-income students from attending a public four year school.29 In 1975-76 a Pell grant covered 84% of tuition at a four year public school - now it only covers 39%.30
The Need A $2.2 billion supplement would provide a $500 increase to Pell grant recipients and prevent thousands of students from dropping out of college.31
What Bush Proposes Bush broke his campaign promise to increase the maximum grant to $5,100.32 Instead, the president froze the maximum Pell grant level for the third straight year, resulting in a lower average grant.33

Lifelong Education is essential in a changing economy

The Challenge Since the recovery began, 1.3 million manufacturing jobs have been lost - 26,000 in December, the 41st month of losses.34 Now companies are also starting to move information technology and other service jobs abroad.
The Need As the president says, constant training and retraining must be available in an economy hit by these global tides.35 Community colleges, which are central to this effort, saw average tuitions rise by 14% last year.36
What Bush Proposes The White House claims that Bush's budget provides resources for a "Jobs for the 21st Century" training initiative. In reality, vocational and adult education programs funding is sliced by almost 25% from $2.1 billion to $1.6 billion. Bush's community college initiative provides $250 million to the nation's community colleges, far less than they lost from state cuts in the past year.

On Education, the president simply fails

The president plans to tout his education reforms and increased funding for poor schools and for special education in the upcoming campaign. But even here, much of the funding is a shell game. His budget adds money to those programs, while eliminating 38 other education programs, funded at $1.4 billion this year - and he ignores the fact that the funding for a third of his proposed tax cuts could ensure that all children have health insurance, all eligible children have access to Head Start and pay for 100,000 new teachers.37

The president's priorities are clear. He will rally the nation to rebuild Iraq, at the cost of $87 billion this year and a projected $50 billion next year. He will not only defend his top-end tax cuts in the face of staggering deficits, he'll demand $1.2 trillion more in cuts over the next decade, almost all of them going to the wealthiest Americans. He'll throw more money to the Pentagon, which already accounts for over 40% of the world's military expenditures. Yet on the critical challenge of educating the next generation, the president defaults. An administration that cuts taxes on millionaires while teachers are being laid off is doing grave disservice to America's future.