House and Senate conferees reached an agreement on a budget resolution late last week that allocates $37.2 billion for education and job-training programs, $1.4 billion above the 1988 level, according to a Senate Budget Committee aide.
That amount is $600 million higher than the funding level in the Senate budget resolution, but $350 million below the amount the House had sought.
Because the nonbinding agreement was reached after appropriations committees in both chambers had already set their own levels for many programs, education lobbyists said they questioned whether it would have much influence on final appropriations figures.
“Until we see how this resolution breaks down into appropriations subcommittee numbers, we won’t really know the full effect,’' said Susan Frost, executive director of the Committee for Education Funding. Congressional aides were expected to calculate those figures this week.
The appropriation levels in the House and Senate subcommittees are far apart, with the Senate setting the level at $39.4 billion and the House at $40.2 billion.
“The House set education as a priority in its budget resolution and is carrying that through [in] the appropriations process,’' said Ms. Frost. “In the Senate, the funding level for education was low in the budget resolution and even lower in appropriations.”
