Senate OKs Modest K-12 Spending Boost

Conference committee to hammer out 2006 budget.

The Senate approved a spending bill last week that would provide only minimal increases for Title I and special education, the two largest federal K-12 education programs.

Though a flurry of unsuccessful amendments by Democrats sought to increase funding for those and other programs, Republicans held the bottom line on an appropriations bill that includes $56.7 billion in discretionary spending for the Department of Education for the 2006 federal fiscal year, which began Oct. 1. The bill, approved Oct. 27 on a 94-3 vote, contains an increase for education of only $143 million, or 0.25 percent, over fiscal 2005.

The Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill contains a $100 million increase to the Title I program for disadvantaged students, to $12.8 billion, which if adopted would make it the smallest increase for the program in eight years. The bill also includes a $100 million increase, to $10.7 billion, for services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The amounts for each program would constitute an increase of...