Advocacy Update
May 15, 2009
This month’s Advocacy update provides information on the following items:
President Obama’s FY10 Budget Request
- Department of Education (ED)
- P-12 Education
- Higher Education
- Education Research
- Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education across agencies
- Research and development (R&D) across agencies
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
College- and Work- Ready Standards
President Obama’s FY10 Budget Request
President Obama released detailed budget plans for Fiscal Year 2010 on May 7. The following is a summary of key areas that BHEF is tracking, including Department of Education requests, STEM education programs across federal agencies, and Federal R&D. For a more detailed description that includes specific programs, please see BHEF’s detailed budget briefing document.
Department of Education
In addition to funds committed for FY09 and FY10 through ARRA, the President has requested $46.7 billion in discretionary appropriations for ED. This represents an increase of $1.3 billion over the discretionary total provided in the regular 2009 appropriations act.
President Obama outlined five pillars for reforming America’s schools that guide both the implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and his President's fiscal year 2010 budget request for the Department of Education (ED):
- Investing in early childhood education and expanding access to quality childcare.
- Challenging States to adopt world-class college- and career-ready academic standards and assessments.
- Recruiting, preparing, and rewarding effective teachers.
- Promoting innovation and excellence in America's schools by expanding charter schools, extending learning time, and turning around low-performing schools.
- Increasing the number of people pursuing higher education and earning a postsecondary degree or certificate.
P-12 Education
The President’s FY10 Budget request for K-12 education builds on the historic increases for education and the significant State level reforms promoted by ARRA. The request includes $517 million to the Teacher Incentive Fund, a $420 million increase that would increase the incentive for States and school districts to reform teacher compensation systems in order to reward successful teaching and school leadership. The budget requests $100 million for the What Works and Innovation Fund, which was established through the ARRA to help identify, evaluate, and scale up proven strategies for improving student achievement and closing achievement gaps in low-performing schools. In relation to BHEF’s member led local projects in states and school districts, the budget requests $1.5 billion for Title I School Improvement Grants to give states and school districts resources to create and implement comprehensive, research-based plans for a growing number of failing schools. Additionally, the budget establishes a new $50 million High School Graduation Initiative to provide assistance to local education agencies (LEAs) to test and implement strategies for increasing the graduation rate, particularly in those high schools (and their feeder schools) with unacceptably low rates.Higher Education
The President's FY10 Budget requests over $129 billion in new grants, loans, and work-study assistance in 2010, a 32 percent increase over the amount available in 2008. Importantly, the request asks Congress to end entitlements for financial institutions that process Federal postsecondary student loans to students and make all new loans through the direct lending program. The budget seeks to establish a Pell Grant maximum of $5,550 for the 2010-11 academic year and index the maximum grant to grow faster than inflation in future years. The budget would also make Pell Grant funding mandatory, rather than discretionary. Finally, the budget requests $500 million for the proposed College Access and Completion Fund in 2010 ($2.5 billion over five years). This fund would build a Federal-State-local partnership to improve college success and completion, particularly for disadvantaged students.Education Research
The President's FY10 Budget requests $689.3 million for the Institute of Education Science (IES) activities, an increase of $72.1 million over the 2009 level. This request would increase funding for programs of research, development, dissemination about learning and instruction, and eventual scale up of promising programs. The request also would support high quality statistics and assessment programs, including a new longitudinal study of teachers and a new international assessment of adult competencies; implementation of the 2010 national U.S. history, civics, and geography assessments under the National Assessment of Educational Progress; and assistance to help States improve the quality of longitudinal student data systems.
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Education Across Agencies
The President’s FY10 Budget request would invest $3.7 billion in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in more than 100 education programs throughout the federal government, an increase of $98 million or 2.7 percent over the 2009 enacted level for these programs. Significant new investments will be made in programs at NSF and Department of Energy. In addition, ARRA provides an additional $276 million for these programs in FY09 and FY10.
Research and Development (R&D) Across Agencies
The President’s Fiscal Year FY10 Budget proposes $147.6 billion for the Federal investment in research and development (R&D), an increase of $555 million or 0.4 percent more than the 2009 enacted level. This compares to 2009 enacted appropriations and preliminary allocations of Recovery Act funding that increased the Federal R&D investment to a record $165.4 billion. These investments are spread across two dozen Federal departments and independent agencies, and reflect the Administration’s recognition that science, technology, and innovation are critical tools for making progress toward the national goals of a prosperous economy, a clean energy future, a healthy American people, and a strong and secure America. Major increases are slated for three key basic research agencies – the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy’s Office of Science (DOE SC) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which are the focus of the Administration’s goal of doubling their budgets.
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
States continue to apply for stabilization funds and are beginning the process of re-granting funds to local education agencies. ED recommends that these funds be targeted towards the five key areas that President Obama has listed as his pillars for education improvement. Funds must be spent within the next three years, so education officials are thinking creatively about how to use funds to drive results for students, increase capacity, accelerate reform, improve productivity, and foster continuous improvement. BHEF continues to watch closely for regulations to be released on the Race to the Top and Innovation funds.
College- and Work- Ready Standards
Secretary Duncan and President Obama have placed great emphasis on the need for common national college-readiness standards. At BHEF’s winter meeting in Miami members strongly supported the creation of world-class, college- and work-ready standards that are aligned with postsecondary education admissions and curricular requirements as well as workplace requirements.
Significant progress has been made since our meeting to advance this discussion, largely through the leadership of states and the Common Core State Standards Initiative, which is led by Achieve Inc, the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), and the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA). In April, 41 states convened to discuss the process and adoption of state-led common standards. CCSSO and the NGA Center have developed and released a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for states to review and sign to join the process of developing the common core standards. In addition, the House Education and Labor Committee held a hearing on the need for national standards at the end of April, with a number of witnesses calling for voluntary, state-led standards.
Arne Duncan has indicated his support for the Common Core initiative, and has said that the Department of Education will likely follow the lead of the states on this effort. Notably absent from these conversations though has been the voice of higher education, and to a lesser extent, the business community. Further, while President Obama and Secretary Duncan continue to emphasize the importance of math and science education, conversations about common standards have excluded science as a content area, despite concerns voiced by BHEF and other organizations during NCLB reauthorization discussions in 2008.
As conversations around common state standards and the expected 2009 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (i.e. NCLB) evolve, BHEF will continue to advocate for the need for science standards and the need for involvement of business and higher education leaders in these discussions.
We would be delighted to share our Advocacy Update with your staff or colleagues. To include them on future mailings, or for more information on the items included in this newsletter or other policy issues, please contact Kirstin McCarthy, associate director of programs, at kirstin.mccarthy@bhef.com or 202-367-2433.
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