Congress OKs Education Budget With Modest Increases

Federal education spending would increase by 2.9 percent in fiscal 2008 under a bill approved by Congress that generally favors Democratic priorities over President Bush’s.

The plan to appropriate $59.2 billion for U.S. Department of Education programs in the fiscal year that began Oct. 1 is part of a larger budget drama in which Democrats gave in to a hard-line White House stance that earlier measures contained too much in the way of domestic spending increases.

The Senate gave final approval to the bill Dec. 18 by a vote of 76-17; the House approved it the next day, 272-142. President Bush is expected to sign the legislation, which is a $550 billion omnibus measure that includes fiscal 2008 spending for not only the Education Department but also...