If we want to win the future—if we want innovation to produce jobs in America and not overseas—then we also have to win the race to educate our kids.
President Barack Obama
January 25, 2011
During his first two years in office, President Obama has combined unprecedented support for America's students and schools during tough economic times with extraordinary leadership in promoting transformational reforms at all levels of our education system. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) delivered nearly $100 billion to States and school districts to help address budget shortfalls and meet the needs of schools and students in the midst of the most severe economic recession since the Great Depression. This funding helped save or create an estimated 400,000 jobs, including 325,000 education jobs. The Education Jobs Fund, passed in late summer of 2010, is helping cash-strapped States and districts keep tens of thousands of teachers in the classroom during the 2010-2011 school year.
At the same time, President Obama recognized the need to not just recover from yesterday's economic recession, but to take bold action to ensure America's success in tomorrow's global economic competition. This is why the President used $4 billion in Recovery Act funds to create the Race to the Top program, an initiative he has described as "the most meaningful reform of our public schools in a generation." Race to the Top helped support more than 40 States in raising their standards for teaching and learning, and has brought together State and local leaders—Democratic and Republican—to work collaboratively to implement their best ideas for improving their schools.
Now President Obama is seeking to build on the success of Race to the Top by focusing on core reforms and flexibility in exchange for results in his proposal for reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). In March 2010, the Administration released A Blueprint for Reform, which proposed changes in the ESEA intended to help give all children the world- class education that they deserve and that America needs to ensure our future economic prosperity. It does this not just by tinkering with existing law, but by re-envisioning the Federal role in education to support more flexible, innovative, locally driven approaches to teaching and learning that make better, more productive use of existing resources. As President Obama said in his 2011 State of the Union address, "this is our generation's Sputnik moment," and we can no longer afford to invest in the status quo in education.
The Blueprint envisions a smaller Federal role focused on key priorities aimed at improving educational outcomes for all students, including (1) recognizing and rewarding student academic growth and school progress; (2) ensuring that students complete high school prepared for college and a career, based on rigorous, State-developed standards; (3) putting a great teacher in every classroom and a great principal in every school; and (4) focusing intensive support and interventions on our lowest-performing schools that serve our neediest students and communities, including the "dropout factories" that account for one-half of the estimated 1 million students who leave school each year without a high school diploma. Together, these changes support the goal of ensuring that, by 2020, the United States will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world—a key goal not only for restoring and increasing our economic prosperity, but also for securing the more equal, fair, and just society envisioned by our Nation's founders.
President Obama also delivered a significant down payment on his promise to make postsecondary education more affordable and help more Americans earn a college degree when he signed into law the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA) as part of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. This historic legislation ended decades of Federal subsidies to banks and other institutions that made guaranteed loans to postsecondary students and, according to the Congressional Budget Office, saved an estimated $67 billion over 10 years that was re-directed to improving college affordability and reducing the deficit. SAFRA invested more than $40 billion to help Pell Grants keep pace with rising college costs, expanded the income-based student loan repayment program to reduce the burden of loan repayment for college graduates, provided $2 billion in new funding to community colleges to expand career training opportunities, and supported minority-serving institutions which currently enroll nearly 60 percent of all minority undergraduate students. In December 2010, the President also signed into law an extension of the American Opportunity Tax Credit, which in fiscal year 2012 will provide an estimated $7.1 billion in tax relief to students and families with postsecondary expenses.
The President's 2012 request for the Department of Education builds on this record of achievement and reform and reflects the critical importance of education to America's families and future.
| The Administration is requesting $48.8 billion in non-Pell Grant discretionary appropriations for the Department of Education, an increase of $2.0 billion, or 4.3 percent, over the 2011 Continuing Resolution (CR) level. |
The 3-year table below displays the Department's discretionary request without Pell Grants, as well as the net discretionary request for the Pell Grant program (assuming enactment of the Pell Grant Protection Act, a set of cost-reduction and savings proposals).
Department of Education Discretionary Appropriations
(in billions of dollars)
| 2010 | 2011 CR | 2012 Request |
Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Discretionary (w/o Pell Grants) |
$46.6 | $46.8 | $48.8 | +$2.0 |
| Pell Grants (net discretionary request) |
$17.5 | $23.2 | $28.6 | +$5.4 |
| Totals | $64.1 |
$69.9 |
$77.4 |
+$7.5 |
| (may not add due to rounding) | ||||
The 2012 request for education would (1) sustain State and local reform momentum by providing significant competitive funding for key initiatives like Race to the Top, while maintaining critical formula programs for at-risk students; (2) support the aggressive consolidation and restructuring of Federal education programs to emphasize fewer priorities and provide greater flexibility for local innovation; (3) eliminate ineffective programs and earmarked activities not aligned with reform priorities; and (4) expand investments aimed at improving college access and success.
The request also reflects considerable evidence that the Administration's education reforms are leading to significant change across America. For example, 46 States and the District of Columbia prepared comprehensive Race to the Top applications, 139 applicants for the Teacher Incentive Fund demonstrated a willingness to take on the challenge of reforming teacher evaluation and compensation systems, and the Investing in Innovation (i3) program generated 1,700 applications proposing a wide range of innovative and entrepreneurial strategies for improving our education system.
Moreover, this momentum for reform has already generated concrete results, with 41 States and the District of Columbia adopting State-developed, rigorous, common college- and career-ready standards in reading/language arts and mathematics; 44 States and the District of Columbia participating in Race to the Top Assessment Grant consortia that will develop a new generation of assessments aligned with college- and career-ready standards; and 34 States changing laws or policies to support promising reforms.
While the 2012 request demonstrates the President's commitment to making the critical investments in education needed to ensure our future economic prosperity, it also shows his determination to reduce the overall Federal budget deficit. For example, the President's budget would help offset increases in the 2012 request by eliminating 13 programs for a savings of $147 million. These proposed eliminations build on $360 million in savings from four program terminations enacted in 2010. The request also redirects funding from less effective programs to programs that will maximize results for students under a new framework for the ESEA.
The 2012 request also includes a Pell Grant Protection Act that responds to growth in the demand for Pell Grants by protecting the maximum grant level, while proposing tough changes in postsecondary grant and student loan programs in order to ensure the long-term viability of this bedrock student aid program. The Pell Grant Protection Act would end the availability of a second Pell grant in the same award year, eliminate the interest subsidy for graduate and professional student loans, and allow students whose debt is split between Department of Education contractors and Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) lenders to convert their FFEL debt. Eliminating "two Pells" would save an estimated $7.6 billion in fiscal year 2011 and 2012 discretionary funding, while the proposed mandatory savings from changes in the student loan programs would total an estimated $4.3 billion in 2012 ($4.0 billion in outlays). Concurrent with the release of the 2012 budget, the Department also is announcing administrative actions to implement enhanced income verification procedures for student aid applicants as part of improvements in the processing of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
The overall 2012 budget request for the Department of Education is organized around the following priorities:
REWARDING EXCELLENCE AND PROMOTING INNOVATION
The Recovery Act provided the down payment needed to change the culture of America's education system by rewarding excellence and promoting innovation. The early results have been extraordinary, with States and school districts breaking ground in the areas of common college-and career-ready academic standards, teacher evaluation, and tackling the lowest- performing schools, and 1,700 educational entrepreneurs seeking to test or expand their ideas for improving outcomes in the classroom. The 2012 President's budget for education would continue to build on the revolutionary investments launched by the Recovery Act.
$900 million for Race to the Top awards, to encourage local leaders to work together to develop comprehensive plans involving ambitious reforms designed to produce rapid educational change and improvement. The 2012 request would focus on supporting district- level plans addressing the four assurances in the Recovery Act—the implementation of more rigorous standards and assessments, improving teacher equity and effectiveness, using data to improve instruction, and turning around low-performing schools—while also emphasizing cost-effective reforms that improve student achievement in a time of tight budgets. Local communities would be challenged to develop reform plans ensuring that all students, including students with disabilities and English learners, reach college- and career-ready standards. Recognizing the unique needs of rural communities, the Department would structure the competition to ensure that rural districts are able to compete for funding in a competition that reflects their needs and priorities.
$300 million for Title I Rewards, to provide financial and other rewards to staff and students in high-poverty LEAs and schools that are making the most progress in improving student achievement, closing achievement gaps, and turning around low-performing schools.
$300 million for the Investing in Innovation (i3) program, to develop, evaluate, and scale up promising and effective models and interventions with the potential to improve educational outcomes for hundreds of thousands of students. The request includes priorities for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and early learning, as well as an overall focus on increasing productivity to achieve better student outcomes. The Department would structure i3 competitions to ensure geographical diversity in the communities served by recipients, including funding applications from providers and other entities proposing evidence-based approaches to address the unique needs and priorities of rural districts and schools.
$90 million for a new Advanced Research Projects Agency: Education (ARPA-ED) initiative, including $50 million in discretionary funding and $40 million in mandatory funds, that would pursue breakthrough developments in educational technology and learning systems, support systems for educators, and tools that improve educational outcomes.
Pay for Success, a new multi-agency authority, modeled on the "social impact bonds" concept, which would promote innovative strategies for delivery of public services at lower cost to taxpayers than under traditional Federal grant programs because funds would be awarded only in exchange for successful outcomes. In the Department of Education, potential Pay for Success projects could be funded through i3, Adult Education, the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, the Workforce Innovation Fund, and PROMISE: Promoting Readiness of Minors in SSI (Supplemental Security Income).
$372 million for Expanding Educational Options, to support the creation and expansion of effective charter schools, other effective autonomous public schools, and comprehensive systems of public school choice. The new authority would consolidate 5 existing programs into two separate grant competitions: Supporting Effective Charter Schools Grants and Promoting Public School Choice Grants. The 2012 request includes $110 million for Magnet Schools Assistance, an increase of $10 million, or 10 percent, over the 2011 CR level.
GREAT TEACHERS AND LEADERS IN EVERY SCHOOL
A key goal of the Administration's ESEA reauthorization plan is to create incentives and supports to help States, LEAs, and schools recruit, prepare, support, reward, and retain effective teachers and school leaders, with a priority on improving the effectiveness of teachers and leaders in our lowest-performing schools. The 2012 request includes a wide range of key investments and new resources to help accomplish the Secretary's goal of "getting great teachers into our classrooms and great principals into our schools."
$3.25 billion for the Excellent Instructional Teams initiative, which would consolidate nine programs that focus on teaching and school leadership into three new programs better designed to help States and LEAs promote and enhance the education profession and increase the effectiveness of teachers, principals, and other school leaders in improving learning for all students, including students with disabilities and English learners. In addition, a national activities authority would, among other things, support innovative efforts to attract and recruit the next generation of effective teachers for our neediest schools through the teacher recruitment (TEACH) campaign.
$2.5 billion for the Effective Teachers and Leaders program, which would provide State formula grants to help States and LEAs carry out strategies to recruit, develop, retain, and reward effective teachers and principals who meet local needs. Key activities would include (1) the design and implementation of rigorous and fair teacher evaluation systems that are aligned with professional development opportunities and (2) ensuring the equitable distribution of effective teachers and leaders.
$500 million for the Teacher and Leader Innovation Fund to significantly increase funding for State and local efforts to support ambitious reforms—including innovative compensation systems—to better identify, reward, retain, and advance effective teachers, principals, and school leadership teams in high-need schools.
$250 million for Teacher and Leader Pathways to expand high-quality traditional and alternative pathways into teaching, with an emphasis on recruiting, preparing, and placing promising teacher candidates for high-need (including rural) schools, subject areas, and fields. The program also would support the recruitment, preparation, and retention of effective principals and school leadership teams who are able to turn around persistently low-performing schools, as well as State- and district-level leaders who are able to lead transformational change in their States and LEAs. The Pathways proposal also includes an $80 million set-aside to help prepare 10,000 new STEM teachers over the next two years.
$185 million in mandatory funding for a new Presidential Teaching Fellows program, which would make formula grants to States to provide scholarships of up to $10,000 to talented individuals who attend high-performing teacher preparation programs and who commit to teaching for at least 3 years in a high-need school. Eligible States would agree to measure the effectiveness of their teacher preparation programs, based in part on the academic growth of the students their graduates teach; hold these programs accountable for results; and upgrade licensure and certification standards.
$40 million for a new Hawkins Centers of Excellence program, which would support partnerships to improve and expand teacher preparation programs at minority-serving institutions, increase the number of effective teachers produced by these institutions, and add to the research base on effective teacher preparation models that strengthen the pipeline for preparing an effective and diverse teaching force.
$835 million for the Effective Teaching and Learning for a Complete Education initiative, which would consolidate 15 programs that focus on improving instruction in various subjects into 3 new programs better structured to support educators in delivering instruction designed to help all students, including students with disabilities and English learners, reach college- and career-ready standards. While providing continued focus on literacy and STEM, this initiative recognizes the importance of providing every student with a well-rounded education. These new programs also support the use of technology and interdisciplinary approaches that lead to more effective instruction.
$383 million for a new Effective Teaching and Learning: Literacy program, an increase of $20 million over the 2010 appropriation for current literacy programs, that would support the development and implementation of comprehensive, evidence-based State and local efforts to provide high-quality literacy programs aligned with college- and career-ready English language arts standards. These programs would be designed to address the need to comprehensively strengthen instruction and to increase student achievement in high-need LEAs and schools for students from preschool through grade 12, with LEAs able to focus funds on the areas of their greatest need.
$206 million for the new Effective Teaching and Learning: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, an increase of $26 million, or 14 percent, over the 2011 CR level for the current Mathematics and Science Partnerships program, to support the transition to college- and career-ready standards by helping States improve teaching and learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Funds would be used to support State development of comprehensive, evidence-based plans that align Federal, State, and local resources to provide high-quality STEM instruction, as well as for subgrants to high-need LEAs to support comprehensive STEM instruction in the grades and schools with the greatest local needs.
$246 million for the new Effective Teaching and Learning for a Well-Rounded Education program, an increase of $20 million, or nearly 9 percent over the 2011 CR level for current programs, to provide grants to States, high-need LEAs, and nonprofit partners to strengthen the teaching and learning of the arts, foreign languages, history, government, economics and financial literacy, environmental education, physical education, health education, and other subjects.
MEETING THE FULL RANGE OF STUDENT NEEDS
The Administration's ESEA reauthorization plan recognizes that the children and young people most at risk for academic failure too often attend schools and live in communities that fall short in meeting their basic needs. The 2012 request includes a total of $1.8 billion to support comprehensive services, safe school climates, student health and well-being, full-service community schools, and expanded school schedules to accommodate both additional learning opportunities and access to comprehensive services outside the traditional school day.
$150 million for Promise Neighborhoods, an increase of $140 million over the 2011 CR level, to provide grants for comprehensive approaches to meeting the full range of student needs, drawing on the contributions of schools, community-based organizations, local agencies, foundations, and private businesses. Grantees would develop and implement a continuum of services, family supports, and comprehensive education reforms to improve the educational and life outcomes for children and youth in high-need communities.
$1.3 billion for a reauthorized 21ST Century Community Learning Centers program, an increase of $100 million over the 2011 CR level, for grants to projects that provide students with additional time for academic and enrichment activities—including before- and after- school, summer school, and expanded learning time programs involving the redesign and extension of the school day, week, or year—as well as to programs that support full-service community schools that coordinate access to comprehensive services.
$365 million for Successful, Safe, and Healthy Students, a new competitive grant program to carry out strategies designed to improve the physical and mental health of students, nutrition education, healthy eating, and physical fitness, while collecting and reporting better information on school climate and student safety.
SUPPORTING EARLY LEARNING
The Administration is committed to an early learning strategy that supports a continuum of learning in the early years from birth through third grade. Significant evidence from research and evaluation demonstrates that high-quality early learning programs and services are among the most cost-effective investments in improving health, social-emotional, and cognitive outcomes; increasing school readiness across a range of domains; and closing and even preventing achievement gaps. In addition to the Promise Neighborhoods program described above, the following investments in early learning would help prepare children to thrive in and graduate from school ready to succeed in college and a career:
$350 million for the Early Learning Challenge Fund, a new program that would challenge States to establish model systems of early learning for children, from birth to kindergarten entry, that promote high standards of quality and a focus on outcomes across settings to ensure that more children enter school ready to succeed.
$489 million for the Grants for Infants and Families program under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), an increase of $50 million, or 11 percent, over the 2011 CR level, to help States implement statewide systems of early intervention services for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families.
$374 million for IDEA Preschool Grants to help States make a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment available to all children with disabilities ages 3 through 5 to help ensure that young children with disabilities succeed in school.
IMPROVING STEM EDUCATION
The 2012 request would continue to support President Obama's focus on improving STEM education by (1) increasing STEM literacy so that all students can master challenging content and think critically in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields; (2) improving the quality of math and science teaching so American students are no longer outperformed by those in other nations; and (3) expanding STEM education and career opportunities for underrepresented groups. Key activities include:
$206 million to improve the teaching and learning of STEM subjects aligned with college- and career-ready standards through the Effective Teaching and Learning: STEM program. This proposed program, which would receive an increase of $26 million, or 14 percent, over the current Mathematics and Science Partnerships program, would support professional development for STEM teachers; implementation of high-quality assessments and instructional materials; and improved systems for linking student data on assessments with instructional supports such as lesson plans and intervention strategies.
A priority for STEM projects under the Investing in Innovation (i3) program, which makes awards to develop, validate, and scale up innovative programs, practices, and strategies that have evidence of effectiveness in improving educational outcomes for students.
$80 million under the proposed Teacher and Leader Pathways program to help prepare 10,000 new STEM teachers over the next 2 years as part of the Administration's goal to recruit and prepare 100,000 effective STEM teachers over the next 10 years.
ALL STUDENTS COLLEGE- AND CAREER-READY
The Administration's ESEA reauthorization proposal is based on high expectations and accountability for all student groups to ensure that all students, including poor and minority students, graduate from high school college- and career-ready. To help States and LEAs close longstanding achievement gaps between poor and minority students and their more advantaged peers, the 2012 request would provide significant resources to improve services to students from low-income families, students with disabilities, and English Learners.
$14.8 billion for a reauthorized and strengthened Title I, Part A College- and Career-Ready Students program to (1) support statewide accountability systems linked to college- and career-ready standards and assessments intended to ensure that all students graduate high school ready for college and a career, (2) measure schools based on progress towards this goal, (3) reward schools and LEAs making significant progress and closing achievement gaps, and (4) carry out rigorous interventions in the lowest-performing schools. In particular, the 2012 request includes $300 million for a new Title I Rewards authority that would provide financial and other rewards for LEAs and schools that are reaching annual performance targets, significantly increasing academic achievement for all students, and closing achievement gaps. LEAs that successfully turn around their lowest-performing schools also would be eligible for rewards.
$600 million for the School Turnaround Grants program, an increase of $54 million, or 10 percent, for formula grants to States, which would make competitive grants to LEAs to support the implementation of rigorous interventions in their persistently lowest-performing schools as identified under the College- and Career-Ready Students program.
$420 million for a reauthorized Assessing Achievement program, an increase of $9 million over the 2011 CR level, for formula and competitive grants to help States improve the quality of their assessment systems as they transition to assessments aligned to college- and career-ready standards, including assessments in subjects such as science and history that are necessary to provide all students with a well-rounded education. In particular, improved assessments would accurately measure student academic growth; more reliably measure student achievement and teacher and school effectiveness; help teachers tailor instruction to student needs; and provide better information to students and their families.
$11.7 billion for Special Education Grants to States, an increase of $200 million, to continue paying a significant share of State and local costs of improving educational outcomes for children with disabilities. The request would provide an estimated average of $1,765 per student for about 6.6 million children ages 3 through 21.
$750 million for a reauthorized English Learner Education program that would provide grants to help States and LEAs meet the needs of the growing population of English Learners and ensure that these students reach the same college- and career-ready goals for reading and mathematics as other students. Under the reauthorization proposal, States would be required to improve their systems for identifying and serving English Learners and to evaluate the effectiveness of local English language instructional programs to support program improvement. The request also includes competitive grant funds to develop innovative programs, identify promising practices, conduct evaluations, and scale up effective instructional practices.
$445 million for Title I Migrant Education and Neglected and Delinquent State agency programs to help meet the educational needs of approximately 537,000 children of migrant agricultural workers and to help an estimated 132,000 neglected and delinquent students return to and complete school and obtain employment after they are released from State institutions.
PROTECTING PELL GRANTS AND EXPANDING ACCESS TO STUDENT AID
College- and career-readiness is the new standard for K-12 education—and the centerpiece of the Administration's proposal to reauthorize the ESEA—because most students will need some postsecondary education to compete successfully for jobs in the technology-enabled, globally competitive, 21st century American economy. To help students and their families pay for postsecondary education, the 2012 budget for education includes a combination of discretionary and mandatory funding that would make available $167 billion in new grants, loans, and work- study assistance—an increase of $37.6 billion, or 29 percent, over the amount available in 2009—to help nearly 16 million students and their families pay for college.
The foundation of need-based Federal assistance to postsecondary students and their families is the Pell Grant program, which has experienced rapid growth in both benefits to students and costs to taxpayers in recent years. In 2012, the Pell Grant program will provide more than $36 billion in grant aid to over 9.6 million needy postsecondary students, reflecting a doubling of grant assistance over the past 3 years.
This increase reflects a number of factors, but is primarily attributable to growing demand for Pell Grants. In addition, Pell Grant costs have grown in recent years due to an expansion of benefits to students and other legislative changes. For example, since fiscal year 2007 the Pell Grant maximum award has risen from $4,310 to $5,550, an increase of $1,240, or 29 percent. Also, while student aid applicants previously could earn no more than $20,000 in annual household income to qualify automatically for the maximum $5,550 Pell Grant, in 2008 this threshold was raised to $30,000, sharply increasing the percentage of Pell Grant applicants who qualify for the maximum award. In 2012, the Department projects that more than 75 percent of Pell recipients will be eligible to receive the maximum grant of $5,550. Finally, the "two Pells" provision, under which a student may receive up to two Pell Grants in one academic year, has proven far more costly than expected.
To protect the maximum Pell grant level, while responsibly ensuring the long-term sustainability of the program, the Administration is proposing a Pell Grant Protection Act. This proposal includes tough changes to student aid programs that would generate savings which would be appropriated back to Pell Grants as additional mandatory funds, thus reducing the need for future discretionary annual appropriations. Over 10 years, these changes would reduce future appropriation needs by $104 billion. Proposed changes include the following:
Eliminate the "two Pells" benefit, which allows qualifying students to receive two Pell Grants in a single award year. This benefit, which began in July 2009, is estimated to add nearly $8 billion to Pell Grant costs in fiscal years 2011 and 2012. The Pell Grant Protection Act would suspend the "two Pell" benefit at the beginning of the 2011-2012 award year. The Department of Education will continue to examine whether there are other measures that could help students complete their degrees more quickly in a fiscally responsible way.
End the in-school interest subsidy for graduate and professional student loans to save an estimated $2.2 billion ($1.0 billion in outlays) in 2012 and nearly $33 billion over the next 10 years. Experts believe that this costly subsidy is not well targeted to borrowers who are likely to struggle to repay their loans after leaving school, since graduate students generally are in specialized and often higher-paying fields and thus have less need for subsidized student loans. In addition, other recent changes in loan repayment options, such as the expansion of income-based repayment under SAFRA, already provide benefits to those who otherwise might have trouble repaying their student loans.
Allow borrowers with debt split between the Department of Education and FFEL lenders to convert their existing FFEL debt to the Department to save an estimated $2.1 billion in fiscal year 2012. Borrowers would be able to simplify their repayment process while also qualifying for a benefit of up to 2 percent of their loan balances.
Expand and modernize the Perkins Loans program to increase benefits for students and institutions while saving an estimated $8.6 billion ($7.4 billion in outlays) over 10 years. The expanded program would support Perkins Loans at up to 2,700 additional postsecondary education institutions, reaching over 3 million students at full implementation.
PROMOTING COLLEGE ACCESS AND COMPLETION
In addition to helping students and families pay for college, the 2012 request includes funds to help disadvantaged students enroll in and complete postsecondary education.
$150 million for the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education to support a new "First in the World" competition, modeled on the Investing in Innovation (i3) program, which would promote and test innovative strategies for improving college access, postsecondary education quality, and postsecondary completion.
$50 million in mandatory funding for a new College Completion Incentive Grants program, rising to $300 million in 2013, that would (1) encourage colleges to help students enroll in school and finish their studies with a degree or certificate and (2) reward institutions that produce successful outcomes.
$86 million for College Pathways and Accelerated Learning, a new authority under the Administration's ESEA reauthorization proposal designed to increase graduation rates and prepare students for college matriculation and success by providing college-level and other accelerated courses and instruction in high-poverty middle and high schools, including Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate (AP/IB) courses, dual-enrollment programs, and "early college high schools."
$920 million for Federal TRIO programs, an increase of $67 million in discretionary funding to expand support for services to help disadvantaged students enroll in and complete college.
$323 million for Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) to help an estimated 756,000 middle and high school students prepare for and enroll in college.
$485 million in discretionary funding for the Aid for Institutional Development programs, for a total of $651 million in combined discretionary and mandatory funds in 2012, to maintain support for ongoing efforts to improve the academic programs and administrative and fundraising capabilities of institutions that enroll a large proportion of minority and disadvantaged students.
$117 million in discretionary funding for Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions, for a total of $239 million in combined discretionary and mandatory funds in 2012 for Aid for Hispanic-Serving Institutions, to help ensure that Hispanic students, half of whom enroll in Hispanic-serving institutions, have access to high quality postsecondary education.
IMPROVING OUTCOMES FOR ADULT LEARNERS
The 2012 request includes funding for a variety of programs targeting adult learners—including career and technical education, adult basic and literacy education, and vocational rehabilitation and independent living programs—that provide essential support for State and local activities to help millions of Americans navigate the ever-changing job market and overcome the career challenges created by the combination of global competition and the economic recession.
$1.0 billion for Career and Technical Education (CTE) State Grants to support continued improvement and upgrading of CTE programs as part of a strategy for creating career pathways at the secondary and postsecondary levels to help students enter the workplace ready for successful careers.
$635 million for Adult Basic and Literacy Education State Grants, an increase of $6.8 million over the 2011 CR level, to help adults without a high school diploma or equivalent to become literate and obtain the knowledge and skills necessary for postsecondary education, employment, and self-sufficiency. Eight percent of these funds would be used for the Workforce Innovation Fund (WIF), a joint initiative of the Departments of Education and Labor to improve Workforce Investment Act programs by testing and validating innovative approaches to service delivery. An additional $30 million contribution to the WIF is included in the Rehabilitation Services and Disability Research account.
$23 million for Adult Education National Leadership Activities, an increase of $12 million over the 2011 CR level, to support (1) a new impact evaluation of "college bridge programs" that help adult learners transition from adult basic education to postsecondary education and training and (2) the development of comprehensive technology infrastructure for adult education programs.
$3.1 billion for Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) State Grants to help States and tribal governments to increase the participation of individuals with disabilities in the workforce. The requested $56.3 million increase includes funds that would be made available from the consolidation of other small VR-related programs offering services that can be provided to the same population under the much larger VR State Grants program. The VR consolidation proposal includes a change in the VR State Grants formula to ensure that all States receive at least the same level of funding as prior to the consolidation.
$104 million for a new Grants for Independent Living program that would consolidate the Independent Living State Grants and Centers for Independent Living programs and provide formula grants to States to support the provision of independent living services through centers for independent living.
$111 million for the National Institute for Disability and Rehabilitation Research to support a broad portfolio of research and development, capacity-building, and knowledge translation activities designed to improve the lives of and services provided to individuals with disabilities.
$10 million for a new Access through Cloud Computing initiative, which would be administered by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, to improve access to the Internet and technology for all individuals with disabilities.
IDENTIFYING EFFECTIVE PRACTICES AND INCREASING TRANSPARENCY
The Administration is seeking a total of $760.5 million, an increase of $101.5 million over the 2011 CR level, to support the Department of Education's longstanding role in sponsoring education research and development activities, gathering and making available to researchers and the public a wide range of data on our education system, and measuring the performance of American students through a rigorous assessment program in a variety of academic subjects. The 2012 request includes the following:
$260 million for Research, Development, and Dissemination, an increase of $60.2 million over the 2011 CR level, or 30 percent, to sustain and expand much-needed investments in research in order to generate solutions to critical problems in education. The increase would support new awards under existing programs of research and development as well as evaluations of interventions to increase college access and completion and the Promise Neighborhoods program.
$117 million for Statistics, an increase of $8.5 million over the 2011 CR level, or almost 8 percent, to provide continued support for the collection, analysis, and dissemination of education-related statistics and to fund a new, first-time National Center for Education Statistics study of sub-baccalaureate education and training for adults.
$144 million for Assessment, an increase of $5 million over the 2011 CR level, to support the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the only nationally representative and ontinuing assessment of what American students know and can do. Funds would be used for administration of a grade 12 economics assessment and a long-term trend assessment in 2012, as well as preparation for assessments in future years and continued analysis of prior assessments.
$100 million for Statewide Data Systems, an increase of $41.8 million over the 2011 CR level, or nearly 72 percent, to help States improve the availability and use of data on student learning, teacher performance, and college- and career-readiness through the development of enhanced data systems that report on student progress from early childhood to participation in postsecondary education and the workforce.
Elementary and Secondary Education
For further information contact the ED Budget Service.