Obama Wants to Consolidate Curriculum Programs

States and districts would have to compete for grants from three funds.

As part of a budget plan designed to reshape federal support for education, President Barack Obama is seeking to consolidate more than a dozen discrete programs into three broader, competitive funds focused on “effective teaching and learning” across the academic-content areas.

The proposal emphasizes literacy, the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and a final catchall category dubbed a “well-rounded education.”

But elements of that approach are facing stiff resistance from an array of organizations as well as from Democratic and Republican lawmakers. A chief concern is that the consolidation would lead to the neglect of issues Congress has long identified as national priorities, such as teaching U.S. history, boosting arts education, and distributing...