From the Editor

FY 2011 Budget Request

Anne Wujcik —Friday, February 05, 2010

I’m on a steep learning curve this week as I try to sort through the changes and adjustments included in President Obama’s 2011 budget request . Overall, the Department of Education’s discretionary budget for K-12 programs would grow by $3.5 billion, with an additional $1 billion reserve that could be requested in a budget amendment keyed to the reauthorization of the ESEA. The budget also begin a transition to increased competition in awarding Federal education funds, and asking States and school districts for more in return for formula funds, principles that will also be embedded in the Administration’s ESEA reauthorization plan, along with a focus on the four ARRA assurances and be shaped by what the administration has learned from the Race to the Top competition.

The Administration says that the 2011 budget request “was guided by several key principles, including a strong emphasis on positive incentives and recognizing and rewarding success; focusing investments on fewer, more effective programs. It’s that last piece that complicates making year to year comparisons this time around. Many programs have been renamed with portions of their funding moved among various accounts and many existing programs have been consolidated into new initiatives.

The bulk of the increased funding is allocated to supporting initiatives launched under ARRA: $1.35 billion for additional Race to the Top awards, $500 million to continue the new Investing in Innovation (i3) program, $900 million for a reauthorized School Turnaround Grants program (the old School Improvement Grants),

New programs include a $950 million Teacher and Leader Innovation Fund, which replaces the current Teacher Incentive Fund. This program would more than double support for State and local efforts to create incentives for effective teachers and school leaders to work in the most challenging schools. Teacher and Leader Pathways, funded at $405 million, is a new program that consolidates five current authorities promoting alternative routes to certification for teachers and school leaders and improving existing teacher and principal preparation programs into a more flexible competitive grant program with a greater focus on student outcomes.

The bulk of the program consolidation is rolled up in a new $1 billion program called Effective Teaching and Learning for a Complete Education. The program is designed to improve instruction to support college- and career readiness standards, in part through the use of technology to deliver high-quality content. The new program includes three components – Literacy, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), and A Well-Rounded Education.

Successful, Safe, and Healthy Students, funded at $410 million, consolidates six current authorities into a new program designed to give local communities the flexibility to focus on their greatest needs in the areas of improving school climate and safety; promoting student physical and mental health, preventing student drug and alcohol use, and expanding family and community engagement.

Expanding Educational Options, Funded at $490 million, support the creation and expansion of effective charter schools, other effective autonomous schools, and comprehensive systems of public school choice. It consolidates five ESEA programs including Charter School Grants, Parental Information and Resource Centers and Smaller Learning Communities.

State Assessments, now called Assessing Achievement, funded at $450 million, will help States develop or implement assessments aligned to college- and career-ready standards, to improve assessments for English learners and students with disabilities, and to develop and implement formative as well as end-of-course and other assessments.

Title I, now called College- and Career-Ready Students, is level funded at $14.5 billion, and IDEA ($11.8 billion), English Language Acquisition ($800 million), 21st Century Community Learning Centers ($1.2 billion) and Career and Technical Education State Grants ($1.3 billion) received modest increases.

The biggest loser in all this is the Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) Program, which was zeroed out in this budget. The Administration published a separate brief “A New New Foundation for 21st Century Learning Education Technology Investments in the 2011 Budget"  lays out its position on technology. Essentially, the argument is about technology infusion., The Administration values technology and encourages “the infusion of educational technology across a broad range of programs in order to improve teaching and learning, and build the capacity at the State and local level to support better uses of technology for efficient and effective transfer of knowledge.” Ed tech advocates acknowledge the good intention, but argue that a dedicated funding stream is critical in building state and local capacity for educational innovation through technology. I really do see both sides of this argument. I worry that in these cash-strapped times districts won’t aggressively allocate a fair share of Literacy or I3 funding to technology.

Overall, I applaud the intent of this budget. Consolidating smaller programs into broader funding stream give the states more flexibility to use funding to meet local needs. Of course, it also means that in some places some topics won’t be addressed. It’s all a matter of priorities. The other very important thing to remember is that in terms of the budget, while the President proposes, Congress disposes. We’re just on Step One.