President Proposes Education Spending Cuts, New Initiatives

Washington

The U.S. Department of Education’s bottom line would shrink under President Bush’s proposed 2007 fiscal budget, but he made room in his education spending plan for several new initiatives, some of which have failed to win congressional approval in the past.

Under the president’s budget proposal, released Feb. 6, overall discretionary spending for the Education Department would shrink by 5.5 percent, to $54.4 billion, compared with Congress’ allocation of $57.5 billion for fiscal 2006. The 2006 allocation includes, however, $1.6 billion in a one-time care package to ease the education impact of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Without that spending, the proposed cut is about 3.8 percent.

The department’s two largest programs—Title I, which gives money to schools to help low-income students improve their learning skills, and the program that helps educate students with disabilities—would basically be flat-lined under Mr. Bush’s plan, which covers the budget year...