Education

Budget Has Mixed Message For Other School Programs

By Robert Rothman & Julie A. Miller — January 18, 1989 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Washington--Some of the education-related programs outside the Education Department fared better in President Reagan’s final budget request than many of those within it.

A number of other programs, however, including school lunch, juvenile justice, and school asbestos abatement, were slated for cuts or elimination.

Mr. Reagan kept his pledge to seek a doubling of the National Science Foundation budget by 1992. But he sought a smaller increase for the agency’s education programs than for its other initiatives.

As part of his $2.15-billion request for the foundation, the President asked for $190 million for support of science and engineering education--a jump of 11 percent over current funding.

Despite Congressional sentiment for boosting the foundation’s commitment to precollegiate education, Mr. Reagan’s budget plan seeks a smaller hike in K-12 spending than advocates had hoped for. It calls for an increase of 8.4 percent--to $129 million--for K-12 programs, compared with a 22 percent increase for graduate fellowships.

Erich Bloch, the nsf’s director, said the agency sought relatively modest increases for education programs this year because that part of the budget had already nearly doubled, from $99 million, since 1987.

He also argued that programs aimed at strengthening the nation’s “pipeline” of scientific expertise should address the needs of students at all levels, including undergraduate and graduate students.

Mr. Bloch said the agency’s plans for the increased funds included supporting the development of middle-school mathematics curricula and doubling, to four, the number of regional centers that focus on science and engineering education for minorities.

Familiar Proposals

Other education-related budget requests ask for changes that have been sought by the Administration before and rejected or ignored by the Congress.

Most notably, Mr. Reagan has again urged lawmakers to alter the school-lunch and breakfast programs so that schools would receive no subsidy for meals served to children whose families have incomes above 185 percent of the poverty level.

Elimination of “upper-income meal subsidies,” the budget documents noted, would save $1 billion next year.

Mr. Reagan has made this proposal several times since 1985, when the Congress restored similar cuts made in 1981.

The plan also calls for applying the same income guidelines to family-run day-care centers, where children can now get free meals regardless of their own family’s income.

It also repeats a proposal, twice rejected by the Congress, to amend the summer-youth portion of the Job Training Partnership Act to allow local organizations to provide comprehensive, year-round services to disadvantaged youths.

The budget calls for a modest increase for the jtpa, but requests only level funding for the summer-youth initiative.

As it has every year, the Administration proposed eliminating the Justice Department’s juvenile-justice program, and requested no funds for grants to school districts facing asbestos-abatement bills.

The juvenile-justice program funds the National School Safety Center and alternative-education services for children with behavioral disorders, as well as a variety of undertakings more directly related to youthful offenders.

The Administration argues that the program, which received $64.7 million in 1989, has served its original purpose of helping to remove juveniles from adult jails. The Congress disagreed with that assessment last year, however, when it reauthorized such efforts.

The asbestos-abatement program, which was funded at $47 million last year, pays for projects that should be the responsibility of local officials, the Administration has repeatedly argued.

The budget calls for $6.4 million to implement the asbestos-abatement law, but requests no money for grants to schools.

Head Start

The Reagan budget calls for $1.2 billion for Head Start, the same amount as in 1989. President-elect George Bush has proposed “full funding” for the program to enable it to reach all eligible children.

The budget requests level funding for a new effort to aid “comprehensive child-development centers” that provide a variety of educational and social services. The program, enacted last year, is modeled after Chicago’s Beethoven Project.

A version of this article appeared in the January 18, 1989 edition of Education Week as Budget Has Mixed Message For Other School Programs

Events

Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Privacy & Security Webinar
Navigating Cybersecurity: Securing District Documents and Data
Learn how K-12 districts are addressing the challenges of maintaining a secure tech environment, managing documents and data, automating critical processes, and doing it all with limited resources.
Content provided by Softdocs

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Briefly Stated: March 13, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
9 min read
Education Briefly Stated: February 21, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read
Education Briefly Stated: February 7, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read
Education Briefly Stated: January 31, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
9 min read