Tue Jul 11, 2006 at 07:16:21 AM PDT
The House of Representatives committee report on the Elementary and Secondary Education Access and Opportunity Bill shows how deeply flawed the Bush Administration's priorities are, and demonstrates an agenda in line with cuts for EPA libraries, diaried here.
The bill ELIMINATES entirely Education Technology State Grants, cuts NCLB, special education, civic education, and so much more. Read on...
mbzoltan's diary :: ::
Education Technology State Grants are eliminated ($272 million in 2006 and $496 million in 2005). NCLB authorized $1 billion to help teachers make the most effective use of classroom technology. These education technology grants help schools, universities and technical colleges share classes through regional and statewide distance learning networks, provide online professional development for teachers, and assist schools in keeping up with ever-changing technologies. Schools in AR, AZ, DE, MD, MI, MN, MO, ND, NH, OR, VT, and WI are especially impacted by the bill's elimination of education technology grants because their states do not have dedicated funds for technology.
So nearly 25% of all states have no back-up funding for educational technology. They will lose all ed tech.
In FY 2005 the Education Technology State Grant program provided nearly half a billion dollars for equipment, training, networking, and bringing public schools and universities up to date so that their students could be competitive. Many school libraries depend on technology to provide students with access to important databases and networks as well--plenty of libraries have cut back on print purchases in favor of electronic purchases and database subscriptions, to help broaden access to a wide array of materials. ELIMINATING the funds for technology and training that allow for this is an anti-intellectual and anti-scholarly approach, much in line with cuts to EPA libraries.
The bill cuts the federal share of IDEA to 17 percent. Congress promised to pay 40 percent of the costs of educating 6.9 million students with disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA). Instead, the federal share will continue to decrease from 18.6 percent in FY 2005 and 17.8 percent in FY 2006 to 17 percent in FY 2007. An additional $1 billion would be needed to restore the federal share to its FY 2005 level.
Have a child with an IEP (individual education plan, for students with special needs) or a 504 (similar plan but for students with issues like food allergies, ADHD in some states)? Your school district will receive less from the federal government under this proposed budget, while stress on the schools to perform to NCLB standards remains high. In 1975, when President Ford signed the Education for All Handicaped Children Act his signing statement included great skepticism about whether the federal government could/would meet the act's requirements. Under the act, the federal government would pay 40% of all special needs costs for students who require special education.
The federal government has never, since 1975, paid 40%. But the proposed FY2007 budget lowers the number to 17%. Every year the % goes down--in 2004 it was 19%. All while schools undergo budget crises.
School Counseling, which expands elementary school students' access to counseling services, is cut $12.7 million (36.5 percent).
We're at war. Special needs are at an all-time high in schools. And the federal government is planning to cut school counseling services by more than one third.
And finally, my favorite
Civic Education, which teaches students about the Constitution and democracy, is cut $4.1 million (14.1 percent).
An uneducated populace cannot complain when the government guts their civil liberties, because they don't even know what rights they have.
No comments:
Post a Comment