After the economic-stimulus bill left the U.S. House of Representatives, education programs lost money. Except for one.
Funding for the “school improvement grant” program under NCLB’s Title I fell to $1 billion in the Senate bill from $2 billion in the House bill. But in the final version, it’s up to $3 billion. For a complete breakdown, see page 168 of the bill language on the House Appropriations Committee Web site.
The additional money for school improvement came at the expense of Title I grants to districts. Funding for those grants fell by $1 billion, to $10 billion in the final deal from $11 billion in the House bill.
The $3 billion for school improvement will be spread over fiscal years 2009 and 2010. The money marks a huge increase over what was available in the Bush years. The program received $125 million in fiscal 2007 and $491 million in fiscal 2008.
If you want to see how the money will be spent, you can read the NCLB law for yourself, starting at Section 1003.
