Congress Eyes Modest Increases in FY 2009 Education Spending

This from Education Week by way of KSBA:

The Senate bill, which was approved by the chamber’s Appropriations Committee on a 26-3 vote June 26, would provide about $61.8 billion for the Department of Education for fiscal 2009, which begins Oct. 1. That would be a 4.2 percent increase over the current fiscal year.

A House Appropriations subcommittee voted a week earlier to boost spending for disadvantaged students and for students in special education as part of a similar 2009 spending bill financing education, labor, health, and other programs.

Both bills would eliminate funding for the controversial Reading First program, which was implemented in 2002 to bolster reading instruction in struggling schools.

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved $14.5 billion for Title I grants for districts, which are used to help educate disadvantaged students. That amount would be a 4.3 percent increase over fiscal 2008. And the committee voted to hike spending to help states cover the cost of educating students in special education, under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, increasing that aid to $11.4 billion, a 4.1 percent increase over this fiscal year.

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, who chairs the Appropriations subcommittee that deals with education, called the proposed bottom line for the idea “woefully inadequate, but better than what we’ve done.” ...