2009 Budget Edges Closer to Enactment

The U.S. Senate this week considered a long-delayed fiscal 2009 spending measure that could signal the end of a District of Columbia voucher program and would zero out money for Reading First.

The measure would boost the U.S. Department of Education’s bottom line in the fiscal year that began Oct. 1 to $66.5 billion, up from just over $62 billion in fiscal 2008, a 7 percent increase.

Some major K-12 programs would receive modest increases, including $14.5 billion in Title I grants to districts for the education of disadvantaged students,...