Spellings Urges House to Pass $56 Billion Education Budget

Spellings Urges House to Pass $56 Billion Education Budget

President's budget expands the promise of No Child Left Behind, promotes fiscal discipline and makes higher education more affordable, Spellings says

U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today strongly emphasized the need to bring accountability for results to the nation's high schools, and urged the U.S. House of Representatives to approve President Bush's proposed $56 billion FY 2006 budget for the Education Department, including the president's $1.24 billion High School Intervention initiative.

"The facts are hard to dispute: Our 15-year-olds are below average internationally in mathematics literacy and problem solving; just 18 out of 100 students enter college and graduate on time; and about two-thirds of students leave high school unprepared," Secretary Spellings said, citing studies that reflect ominously on America's high school student achievement during testimony before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies.

"All this is set against a backdrop in which 80 percent of the fastest-growing jobs will require some post-secondary education," Spellings said. "It is imperative that we give our high school students the tools to succeed in the 21st century economy."

Secretary Spellings noted that the president's High School Intervention initiative will ensure that students graduate from high school with the skills they need to succeed in higher education and the workforce, and emphasized that under the president's plan, states and school districts—not the federal government—would design interventions that best meet their local needs.

In addition, the President's proposed budget would provide $250 million to measure high school students' achievement annually so that schools can be accountable for results.

"As we have learned, what gets measured gets done," Secretary Spellings said.

The President's proposed budget also includes $200 million for the Striving Readers program—a $175 million increase over 2005—and $120 million for a new Secondary Education Mathematics initiative.

Spellings also heralded the success of the landmark No Child Left Behind Act, and said the president's budget continues the "solid progress" begun three years ago when a bipartisan Congress passed the law. She noted the administration's commitment to teachers and said the budget includes a $500 million Teacher Incentive Fund to reward educators that show outstanding academic progress and to attract more of them to serve in challenging schools. Another $45 million would be invested in programs to encourage students to take more challenging coursework.

"Today, across the country, test scores are rising, schools are improving and the achievement gap is beginning to close for our youngest learners," Spellings said. "We must stay the course."

The proposed 2006 budget provides $13.3 billion—a $603 million increase or five percent more than last year—for Title I grants to help disadvantaged students. Title I funding has increased by 52 percent since President Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act into law.

President Bush also has proposed $11.1 billion—a $508 million increase—in special education grants, which is 75 percent higher than five years ago.

For higher education, Secretary Spellings told the committee that President Bush's makes college affordability a priority. Specifically, the budget would increase Pell Grants by $100 for each of the next five years and make them available year-round so that students could learn on their own timetable.

To encourage more students to enter the critical fields of math and science—especially poor and minority students—a new Presidential Math-Science Scholars Program would be established. It would award up to $5,000 each to low-income college students pursuing degrees in these demanding and in-demand fields.

In addition, a new $125 million Community College Access Grants Fund would support dual-enrollment credit transfers for high school students taking college-level courses.

"With this budget's passage, student financial assistance will have risen from $48 billion to $78 billion during this administration," Spellings said.

Secretary Spellings also highlighted the fiscal discipline that the budget exhibits.

"We are committed to working with Congress to achieve these savings," she said. "Given the fiscal realities, we must target our resources wisely—toward flexibility and results."

The common thread among all of the president's education priorities, she said, is "aligning needs with results."

"It will not always be easy to find common budgetary ground given our nation's fiscal realities and wartime footing," Secretary Spellings said. "But I am here to listen to your priorities. The president has made tough choices. We know you will too. And we want to work with you to make the very best choices for America's students."

### FOR RELEASE: March 10, 2005 Contact: Susan Aspey, Jim Bradshaw (202) 401-1576 SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education