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Garden State Coalition of Schools
GSCS HEADS UP 1-15-09
House Appropriations Committee Releases Federal Stimulus Proposal
The entire release/proposal is attached; the parts dealing with education excerpted are below.
COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, DAVE OBEY (D-WI), CHAIRMAN e Release
Thursday, January 15, 2009
SUMMARY: AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT
Action and Action Now!
The economy is in a crisis not seen since the Great Depression.
Credit is frozen, consumer purchasing power is in decline, in the last four months the country has lost 2 million jobs and we are expected to lose another 3 to 5 million in the next year.
Conservative economist Mark Zandi was blunt: "the economy is shutting down."
In the next two weeks, the Congress will be considering the American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill of 2009. This package is the first crucial step in a concerted effort to create and save 3 to 4 million jobs, jumpstart our economy, and begin the process of transforming it for the 21st century with $275 billion in economic recovery tax cuts and $550 billion in thoughtful and carefully targeted priority investments with unprecedented accountability measures built in.
The package contains targeted efforts in:
Clean, Efficient, American Energy
Transforming our Economy with Science and Technology
Modernizing Roads, Bridges, Transit and Waterways
Education for the 21st Century
Tax Cuts to Make Work Pay and Create Jobs
Lowering Healthcare Costs
Helping Workers Hurt by the Economy
Saving Public Sector Jobs and Protect Vital Services
…Excerpted from EXECUTIVE SUMMARY p2:
Education for the 21st Century: To enable more children to learn in 21st century classrooms, labs, and libraries to help our kids compete with any worker in the world, this package provides:
$41 billion to local school districts through Title I ($13 billion), IDEA ($13 billion), a new School Modernization and Repair Program ($14 billion), and the Education Technology program ($1 billion).
$79 billion in state fiscal relief to prevent cutbacks to key services, including $39 billion to local school districts and public colleges and universities distributed through existing state and federal formulas, $15 billion to states as bonus grants as a reward for meeting key performance measures, and $25 billion to states for other high priority needs such as public safety and other critical services, which may include education.
$15.6 billion to increase the Pell grant by $500.
$6 billion for higher education modernization…
…Excerpted from EDUCATION FOR THE 21st CENTURY p12
We will put people to work building 21st century classrooms, labs, and libraries to help
our kids compete with any worker in the world.
21st Century Classrooms
• • School Construction: $20 billion, including $14 billion for K-12 and $6 billion
for higher education, for renovation and modernization, including technology
upgrades and energy efficiency improvements. Also includes $100 million for school
construction in communities that lack a local property tax base because they contain
non-taxable federal lands such as military bases or Indian reservations, and $25
million to help charter schools build, obtain, and repair schools.
• • Education Technology: $1 billion for 21st century classrooms, including
computer and science labs and teacher technology training.
Higher Education: Tuition is up, unemployment is up, and as a result more people are
choosing to go to school to upgrade their skills and more of these students need student
aid. This investment addresses those short term needs while investing in our nation's
future economic strength.
• • Pell Grants: $15.6 billion to increase the maximum Pell Grant by $500, from
$4,850 to $5,350.
• • College Work-Study: $490 million to support undergraduate and graduate
students who work.
• • Student Loan Limit Increase: Increases limits on unsubsidized Stafford loans
by $2,000.
• • Student Aid Administration: $50 million to help the Department of Education
administer surging student aid programs while navigating the changing student loan
environment.
K-12 Education: As states begin tackling a projected $350 billion in budget shortfalls
these investments will prevent cuts to critical education programs and services.
• • IDEA Special Education: $13 billion for formula grants to increase the federal
share of special education costs and prevent these mandatory costs from forcing states
to cut other areas of education.
• • Title I Help for Disadvantaged Kids: $13 billion for grants to help
disadvantaged kids in nearly every school district and more than half of all public
schools reach high academic standards.
• • Statewide Data Systems: $250 million for competitive grants to states to design
and develop data systems that analyze individual student data to find ways to improve
student achievement, providing teachers and administrators with effective tools.
• • Education for Homeless Children and Youth: $66 million for formula grants
to states to provide services to homeless children including meals and transportation
when high unemployment and home foreclosures have created an influx of homeless
kids.
• • Improving Teacher Quality: $300 million, including $200 million for
competitive grants to school districts and states to provide financial incentives for
teachers and principals who raise student achievement and close the achievement
gaps in high-need schools and $100 million for competitive grants to states to address
teacher shortages and modernize the teaching workforce.
Early Childhood Development
• • Child Care Development Block Grant: $2 billion to provide child care services
for an additional 300,000 children in low-income families while their parents go to
work. Today only one out of seven eligible children receives care.
• • Head Start: $2.1 billion to provide comprehensive development services to help
110,000 additional children succeed in school. Funds are distributed based on need.
Only about half of all eligible preschoolers and less than 3 percent of eligible infants
and toddlers participate in Head Start.
• • IDEA Infants and Families: $600 million for formula grants to help states serve
children with disabilities age 2 and younger.
LOWER HEALTHCARE COSTS
To save not only jobs, but money and lives, we will update and computerize our
State Education and Other Budget Priorities p17: $120 billion to states and school
districts to stabilize budgets and prevent tax increases and deep cuts to critical education
programs, including:
• • $41 billion to local school districts through Title I ($13 billion), IDEA ($13
billion), a new School Modernization and Repair Program ($14 billion), and the
Education Technology program ($1 billion).
• • $79 billion in state fiscal relief, including: $39 billion to local school districts and
public colleges and universities distributed through existing state and federal
formulas; $15 billion to states as bonus grants as a reward for meeting key
performance measures; and $25 billion to states for other high priority needs such as
public safety and other critical services, which may include education.
