Obama's 2012 Plan Shelters Education

In an otherwise austere federal budget proposal for fiscal year 2012, President Barack Obama last week singled out education as an area crucial to the country’s economic future.

He called for bolstering programs he deems critical to his vision for a renewed Elementary and Secondary Education Act and proposed new ones in research, early-childhood education, teaching, and efforts to close achievement gaps.

The $77.4 billion spending plan for the U.S. Department of Education—including $48.8 billion in discretionary funding that forms the core of federal K-12 aid—seeks to continue the administration’s signature Race to the Top competition, put college financial-aid programs on a firmer fiscal footing, and offer financial...