Posted on 04/04/2017 8:52:15 AM PDT by Academiadotorg
President Trump’s budget "blueprint" for the U. S. Department of Education recommends a 13 percent decrease in spending for the agency, but provides few details on how he will reach that goal.
Nevertheless, the details that the Trump Administration does provide have already drawn the ire of the education establishment. The blueprint promises to preserve and protect special education and historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Meanwhile, the blueprint claims the new administration "eliminates or reduces over 20 categorical programs that do not address national needs, duplicate other programs, or are more appropriately supported with State, local, or private funds, including Striving Readers, Teacher Quality Partnership, Impact Aid Support Payments for Federal Property, and International Education programs."
As well, the blueprint claims it "Eliminates the $2.4 billion Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants program, which is poorly targeted and spread thinly across thousands of districts with scant evidence of impact." A panel of education officials convened at the Center for American Progress (CAP) on March 28, 2017, to take issue with this recommendation, although none of them rebutted the “scant evidence of impact” assertion:
• Catherine Brown, vice president of education policy at CAP, said that 40,000 teachers' salaries would be affected.
• "Two hundred twenty-seven teachers will be affected," Tonia Holmes-Sutton, director of the Network to Transform Teaching in Clark County, Nevada, said.
Start with Obama’s 2017 budget, approved Feb 2016; and again (surprise, with increases) Dec 2016.
The Ed Budget fits neatly into 2 categories K-12 and College.
College student Financial Assistance is by far the single largest budget item. It is a total mess. I dare anyone to try to do an audit on it. Nobody has a clue what is a loan and what is a grant. Nobody has a clue how to collect payments on the loans. If you touch it, you own it.
K-12 is much simpler to address. In order of most money, #1 is Disadvantaged (Poor, immigrants, etc).
#2 is ESL English as a Second Language
#3 is Innovation and Improvement...like that really works.
#4 is School Improvement programs, ie for Homeless, Native Americans, etc.
#5 is administration of the above.
OPTIONs
#1 Eliminate all K-12 spending and their programs.
#2 Eliminate all K-12 programs; keep the money appropriated. Issue to parents “scholarships” for their kids. The money works out to $1,000 per kid K-12.
If designated for the 20% most disadvantaged (low income, Native American, physical/mental disability, define it as you wish) then the amount is about $5,000 per kid. Remember, most Education money is state and local money. The Fed money is for special programs like Common Core, ESL, etc.
Option #3 is keep some K-12 programs and eliminate others. eg. Keep ESL, eliminate PE, or vice versa. Now you become the swamp.
Eliminate the DoE.
The states can run their own education systems. If you don’t like one - move to another state.
But this is better than an increase. (Or is it just a reduction in the rate of increase?)
you should be @ OMB;>)
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