"We've got to give every single American citizen the education that all of us need to compete and win in the new century."
William J. Clinton
March 4, 1996
Overview
The 1997 budget for the Department of Education demonstrates President Clinton's continued commitment to a strong Federal investment in education to ensure that America's children and families are prepared to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
- The President is requesting $25.6 billion in discretionary funds for the Department of Education, an increase of $1.1 billion or 4.4 percent over the 1995 level.
- Excluding the Pell Grant program, which is partially funded in 1997 by a surplus of unused funds from prior years, the 1997 total request for other Department discretionary programs is $19.7 billion, a 7.2 percent increase over 1995.
The 1997 budget reflects three major education priorities:
- Helping States and communities maintain the momentum to develop their own comprehensive, effective education reforms.
- Increasing State grant support in key areas of education to help schools deal with the highest elementary and secondary school enrollments in history. Nearly 1 million new students will enter America's public and private schools this fall, for a record high enrollment of 52 million.
- Keeping the doors open wide to college and other postsecondary education.
Priority 1: Helping States and communities maintain the momentum to develop their own comprehensive, effective education reforms.
- -- $476 million to help States and local school districts raise academic standards and implement their own comprehensive reform plans through Goals 2000.
- -- $200 million, combined with $200 million from the Department of Labor, to help nearly all States implement their School-to-Work Opportunities systems.
- -- $250 million for a new Technology Literacy Challenge Fund aimed at leveraging State, local, and private sector efforts to provide all students with technology-rich learning environments by the dawn of the next century.
- -- $40 million to enhance public school choice and spur innovation through an expansion of Charter Schools.
Priority 2: Increasing State grant support in key areas of education to help schools deal with the highest elementary and secondary school enrollments in history.
- -- $7.2 billion for Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies, up $467 million or 7 percent over 1995, to raise the academic achievement of 7 million disadvantaged students.
- -- $540 million for Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities, up $74 million or 16 percent over 1995, to help end violence and eliminate drugs in 14,575 school districts serving 40 million students.
- -- $610 million for Eisenhower Professional Development, up $359 million over 1995, to provide intensive teacher training opportunities in core academic subjects to an estimated 750,000 educators.
- -- $3.3 billion for Special Education to maintain Federal support for 7 percent of the excess costs of educating almost 6 million children with disabilities.
- -- $290 million for Adult Education State Grants, up $38 million or nearly 15 percent over 1995, to help 4 million adult Americans improve their literacy skills.
- -- $100 million for Immigrant Education, doubling the funds available to help States respond to the educational needs of growing numbers of immigrant students.
Priority 3: Keeping the doors open wide to college and other postsecondary education.
- -- Increasing the Pell Grant maximum award to $2,700, up $360 or 15 percent from the 1995 level of $2,340, to provide grant aid to 3.8 million low- and middle-income students.
- -- $679 million for Work-Study, up $62 million or 10 percent, to begin expanding the number of students who earn some of their college costs from 700,000 to 1 million over the next five years.
- -- $500 million for TRIO, up $37 million or 8 percent, to provide outreach and other special support services to encourage 682,000 disadvantaged students to enter and complete postsecondary education.
- -- $130 million for the new Presidential Honors Scholarships program, which would provide a $1,000 scholarship to every high school student graduating in the top 5 percent of his or her class.
- -- Ensuring that postsecondary institutions are free to choose whether Direct Student Loans or Federal Family Education Loans best meet their needs and the needs of their students.
- -- A new Tuition Tax Deduction permitting families to deduct from their taxable income up to $5,000 (growing to $10,000 by 1999) in postsecondary education expenses each year.
The 1997 budget also continues the Administration's longstanding efforts to eliminate unnecessary or duplicative programs, streamline Department management, and improve service to students and their families, schools, and postsecondary institutions.
The President's budget provides a total of $30.2 billion for the Department of Education in 1997, including $25.6 billion in discretionary budget authority and $4.6 billion for mandatory programs. Comparison with 1996 discretionary budget authority was not possible as this document went to print because Congress had not yet completed a 1996 appropriations bill funding the Department. All discretionary budget authority comparisons in this document are to the 1995 enacted levels. The budget provides $1.1 billion, or 4.4 percent, more discretionary budget authority than was available for 1995.
Mandatory budget authority, which does not require annual Congressional appropriations action and for which 1996 data are available, is estimated to fall from $6.2 billion in 1996 to $4.6 billion in 1997. This decrease of $1.6 billion, or almost 26 percent, results primarily from declining interest rates that are expected to reduce costs in the student loan programs. Declining mandatory costs have helped to lower total Department budget authority by $2.2 billion, or 6.7 percent, from the 1995 level of $32.4 billion.
The following table shows totals for the Department, including the totals provided in the latest House and Senate fiscal year 1996 appropriations bills:
(Budget Authority in Millions) 1995 1996 1996 1997 Actual House Senate Request ------ ------- ------- ------- Discretionary....... $24,517 $22,564/1 $22,813 $25,603 Discretionary without Pell Grants (non-add) 18,370 17,141 17,999 19,684 Mandatory........... 7,921 7,130 6,585 4,639 ------ ------- ------- ------- Total.......... 32,438 29,695 29,397 30,242
Footnote to table
/1 Includes $1.4 billion contingent upon the enactment of legislation that addresses the specific amounts in the contingency and that makes additional room in the funding ceilings of the Appropriations Committees for their availability.
The 1997 budget for elementary and secondary education provides significant increases aimed at helping States and communities implement their own comprehensive education reforms. The budget also maintains Federal support in key areas such as improving basic skills for disadvantaged and limited English proficient children, keeping schools safe and drug-free, and improving the quality of the Nation's classroom teachers.
The budget includes the following:
- $476 million for Goals 2000 State and local comprehensive improvement grants, a $114 million increase over the 1995 level, to help approximately 12,000 schools mobilize school and community resources to ensure that their students will be able to meet challenging State academic standards. The budget responds to the high level of requests for Goals 2000 funds that States are receiving as they implement the program, and to the need in States and localities for resources to implement educational reforms that link curriculum, assessments, teacher training, and management structures to high State standards.
- $7.2 billion for Education for the Disadvantaged (Title I) Grants to Local Educational Agencies, a 7 percent increase over the 1995 level, to enable more than 50,000 schools to provide nearly 7 million educationally disadvantaged children the additional academic support and learning opportunities they need to achieve to high academic standards. Services include individualized and accelerated instruction, after-school and summer programs, preschool programs, and computerized instruction. The Administration is also proposing to target a greater share of Title I funds on the poorest communities, where the need for extra resources and Title I programs is greatest.
The Title I request also includes increased support for the programs serving migrant and institutionalized children, special resources to enable States to help improve local programs that do not reach their objectives, and first-time funding for demonstrations of innovative ways of educating disadvantaged children. Finally, the budget would maintain the 1995 level of support for Even Start, which brings together early childhood education, adult education, and parenting instruction into a coherent family literacy program.
- $540 million for Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities, up 16 percent over 1995, to help 14,575 school districts serving 40 million students tackle the serious problems of student drug use and school violence. The Department would use its discretionary resources, and encourage States and localities to use their formula grant funds, to focus particularly on school violence, which national surveys identify as a major and increasing education problem.
- $610 million for Eisenhower Professional Development State Grants, or $11 million more than the combined 1995 amount for Eisenhower and the Title VI Innovative Education Program Strategies State grant programs. The budget would terminate Title VI funding and channel the entire amount through the Eisenhower program, in order to prepare an estimated 750,000 teachers and other educators to teach to new standards in the core academic subjects -- a critical need if education reforms are to succeed.
- $40 million for Charter Schools, compared to $6 million in 1995 (the first year of the program), to provide financial support for teams of parents, teachers, and other community members who are planning and implementing new public schools that are freed from major rules and regulations in exchange for their commitment to achieving improved outcomes. The request would provide initial operational support for over 700 schools.
- $157 million for Bilingual Education, the same as the 1995 level, to help school districts assist limited English proficient children to learn English and meet challenging educational standards. The request would enable the Department to fund some 355 local programs serving almost 800,000 students, in addition to training teachers and providing other support for local efforts.
- $100 million for Immigrant Education, up 100 percent over 1995, in recognition of the increasing burden on local educational agencies of educating immigrant children. These funds can be used for any expenses that districts incur in educating these students.
- $617 million for Impact Aid, a sufficient amount to make payments to the districts most genuinely burdened by the presence of Federally connected children. The request would preserve the current level of support for children living on Indian lands and for children of members of the uniformed services who live on Federal property. The request also includes changes in the Impact Aid formula so that funds can be targeted more effectively.
- $81.5 million for Indian Education, approximately the 1995 level, to ensure that 430,000 Indian students benefit from the education reforms underway nationally. The request would continue an array of strategies for addressing the particular needs of Indians, including special programs in local schools, teacher training, demonstration projects, and adult education.Among other elementary and secondary programs, the budget includes significant increases for Goals 2000 Parent Assistance Centers (which provide parents with information on preparing their children for school and becoming involved in their education) and comprehensive technical assistance centers.
The budget for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services continues the Administration's commitment to promoting the empowerment and independence of Americans with disabilities.
The 1997 request for Special Education provides increases needed to maintain the Federal share of the costs of educating 5.8 million children with disabilities while supporting a reauthorization proposal aimed at improving educational results for these children.
For Rehabilitation Services and Disability Research, the budget provides increases that will enhance employment and independent living opportunities for over 1 million adults with disabilities.
For the American Printing House for the Blind, the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, and Gallaudet University, the budget maintains funding at approximately the 1995 levels.
The 1997 request includes:
- $2.6 billion for Special Education Grant to States, an increase of $280 million or 12 percent over the 1995 level, to maintain the Federal contribution at 7 percent of the excess costs of educating children with disabilities. The request would provide $449 per child for 5.8 million children, 324,000 more children than were served in 1995. These funds would assist State and local educational agencies in making changes needed to improve educational results for children with disabilities, including improvements contained in the Administration's proposal to reauthorize the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.$380 million for Preschool Grants, an increase of $20 million or 6 percent over 1995, to help offset increased costs in providing special education to children ages 3 through 5.
- $316 million for Grants for Infants and Families, the same as the 1995 level, to support comprehensive and coordinated systems of early intervention services for children ages birth through 2 and their families.
- $254 million for Program Support and Improvement. The request is based on the Administration's legislative proposal to consolidate the 14 existing categorical programs into 5 new authorities that will provide a more comprehensive and coordinated approach to conducting the important activities previously funded under the expired authorities. The proposed new authorities are Research to Practice, State Improvement, Professional Development, Parent Training and Information, and Technology Development and Educational Media Services. The request would maintain funding at the level provided in 1995 for the predecessor programs.
- $2.2 billion for Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) State Grants, an increase of $122 million or 5.9 percent over the 1995 level, to help States respond to the dramatic increase in the number of eligible individuals in the VR system and to offset the increased costs of providing VR services to a more severely disabled population. The requested increase is $9.5 million more than is required by the authorizing legislation. The total amount of the request for the Rehabilitation Services and Disability Research account is classified as mandatory under the Budget Enforcement Act.
- The budget also includes increases over the 1995 levels for Client Assistance, Protection and Advocacy, Migratory Workers, Supported Employment, and Independent Living programs.
The Administration remains committed to providing the leadership and financial support needed to help students and workers obtain the skills they need to prosper in this era of rapid technological change and international economic competitiveness. The 1997 budget for Vocational Education supports the GI Bill for America's Workers, which would consolidate overlapping, outdated Federal job training programs into a system that better meets the lifelong learning needs of the Nation's workforce. The request also provides a significant increase for Adult Education to help adult Americans acquire the literacy skills needed to succeed as workers, citizens, and parents.
The 1997 budget includes the following specific proposals:
- $200 million for School-to-Work Opportunities, up 63 percent over 1995, with an identical amount requested for the Department of Labor. This increase will permit virtually all States (compared to 27 in 1995) to receive funding for implementation of comprehensive systems that prepare secondary students for further education and entry into high-skill, high-wage careers. The request will also support additional grants to local partnerships -- especially those in high-poverty areas -- that are ready to implement their own school-to-work systems.
- $1.1 billion for Vocational Education, up $16 million over 1995, to support national, State, and local efforts to provide students with the strong technical and academic skills they will need to succeed in a technologically challenging workplace. The request is presented under the current Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act, but would support the workforce development legislation currently awaiting final Congressional passage.
- $300 million for Adult Education, up 8 percent over 1995, to help more adults achieve basic literacy, learn English, or complete high school. Federal adult education programs, which already serve almost 4 million people a year, will be called upon to do even more if pending welfare reform legislation requires public assistance recipients to enroll as part of their preparation to become self-sufficient. The request would fund formula grants to States, as well as national discretionary activities and the National Institute for Literacy. As with Vocational Education, this request is presented under current law but would support the pending legislation.
For postsecondary education, the President's 1997 budget supports a comprehensive and complementary package of grant, loan, and work-study opportunities aimed at ensuring that all deserving students can afford a college education. The request would raise the total aid available for postsecondary education and training from $35.2 billion in 1995 to $41.5 billion in 1997, an increase of $6.3 billion or 18 percent. The number of students receiving assistance would rise to 7.3 million, an increase of almost 300,000 students. The Administration's proposals also promote hard work in high school and college by rewarding excellence in achievement.
The request includes the following:
- A $2,700 Pell Grant maximum award, up $360 or 15 percent over 1995. The request would provide grants to an estimated 3.8 million low- and middle-income students during the 1997-98 school year, an increase of 155,000 students over the 1995 level. The President also is proposing annual increases in the maximum Pell Grant award, to $3,130 by the year 2002, to keep pace with anticipated inflation.
- A $62 million increase for Work-Study as the first step in a five-year expansion of the program to serve 1 million students by the year 2000. Together with employer matching funds, the program would provide $837 million in 1997 to support work opportunities that would help 786,000 students earn a portion of their college costs.
- A new merit-based Presidential Honors Scholarships program to reward the excellence and achievement of the top 5 percent of graduating high school students. The one-year, $1,000 scholarships would encourage academic excellence, in every high school in the Nation, among students from a wide range of backgrounds. Some 128,000 hard-working, high-achieving students would receive the award annually.
- $500 million for the TRIO programs, an increase of $37 million, to provide expanded early intervention, outreach, and in-college support services for nearly 682,000 disadvantaged students, an increase of 10,000 students over 1995. These programs improve high school completion, college entrance, and college graduation rates, thereby helping to increase the proportion of students, especially minorities, who enter and complete postsecondary degree programs.
- Preserving freedom of choice for postsecondary institutions in determining whether Direct Student Loans or Federal Family Education Loans best meet their needs and the needs of their students. The President is also proposing a number of changes that would generate $4.4 billion in savings by lowering costs for both programs.
- The budget includes increases for Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need, the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, and Howard University, as well as continued funding for academic and developmental support of Historically Black Colleges and Universities and other colleges serving disadvantaged students.
The Department's research and improvement programs help build knowledge about what works in education and stimulate improvements in educational policy and practice, thus providing essential support for the reform of American schools.
The 1997 budget for the Office of Educational Research and Improvement would support five new national research institutes, the national education dissemination system, and the National Center for Education Statistics. The budget also would support a number of direct grant programs designed to advance or demonstrate nationally significant strategies for improving teaching and learning and aiding school reform.
The request includes a major new initiative that would leverage substantial new investments in computer equipment, the development of educational software, and the training of teachers in the use of educational technology.
The budget contains the following specific proposals:
- $108 million for Research to support the research and development programs of the five new research institutes organized to address major priority areas in American education. The request would also support a national dissemination system that provides schools, parents, and all those interested in education with sound information about effective and promising programs and strategies.
- $83 million for Statistics and Assessment to maintain the statistical programs of the National Center for Education Statistics and carry out the National Assessment of Educational Progress in reading, writing, and civics in 1998.
- $357 million for Educational Technology, including a Local Innovation Challenge Fund, and a new Technology Literacy Challenge Fund. This request would help ensure that all students have access to technology-rich learning environments. The Funds are designed to serve as a catalyst for States and local communities to leverage the other resources necessary to integrate technology into school curricula. The request also would support related national leadership and technical assistance activities and provide continued funding of Star Schools and Ready to Learn Television.
- $40 million for the Fund for the Improvement of Education to expand support for partnerships among State and local education agencies for the design and implementation of character education programs, and to develop assessment programs that will enable States to judge the extent to which students are meeting the challenging standards they have established for student learning.
- $10 million for Javits Gifted and Talented Education to provide sufficient funding to demonstrate a variety of strategies for improving gifted and talented education, and for using the techniques of gifted and talented education with all students.
- $110 million for Public Libraries to support new library programs to be authorized under pending legislation. Federal support would focus on enhancing the use of technology to provide the public with access to information and on providing special services to those who need them in order to use public libraries.
The request for Departmental Management supports the effective administration of the Department's programs, efforts to ensure compliance with the Nation's civil rights laws regarding educational access and opportunity, and activities aimed at preventing fraud and abuse in Federal education programs.
The 1997 budget request supports the continued effort of the Department of Education to transform itself into a high-performance, customer-focused organization. The Department is accomplishing this by reducing regulatory requirements and administrative paperwork, reengineering work processes so that the focus is on customer service, developing performance indicators to measure success, and using cross-cutting management teams to address problems within the Department.
The Department is ahead of schedule in reaching its goal of reducing staff by 12 percent by the year 2000 due to attrition and to retirements encouraged by buyout incentives. The Department's leadership is redeploying staff to its most pressing priorities, such as School-to-Work, the Technology Initiative, and the "Gateway to ED" program, which is designed to provide the Department's customers a single point of contact for program and grant information. Net default costs in the student loan programs have declined from $1.7 billion in 1992 to $0.5 billion in 1995, as a result of reducing the default rate from 22 percent to 12 percent and increasing collections from $1.0 billion to $1.9 billion.
The 1997 budget request for Federal administration includes a total of $506 million in discretionary budget authority, which represents about 2 percent of the total Department discretionary budget. In addition, the Department will use $355 million in permanent budget authority to pay the Federal costs of administering the Direct Student Loan program and to improve overall management of the student financial aid programs, which make available over $40 billion annually in grants and loans to more than 7 million postsecondary students. No policy for payment of guaranty agency administrative cost allowances, which could total up to $136 million in 1997, had been established prior to the release of the 1997 budget. The request includes a ceiling of 4,613 FTE for the Department in 1997, compared to 4,750 FTE in 1996 and 4,816 FTE in 1995.
Highlights of the request include:
- $355 million for Program Administration to continue improvements in student aid management, financial grants and management systems, information technology, and program monitoring.
- $60 million for the Office for Civil Rights to continue its proactive approach in resolving complaints alleging civil rights violations by recipients of Federal education funds.
- $31 million for the Office of the Inspector General to continue audit and investigation activities that will prevent fraud and abuse, primarily in the Department's student aid programs.
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Last update: October 26, 2001 (mjj )