Federal

Bush Budget Would Boost Spending on Studies, But Cut Back Outreach

By Debra Viadero — February 19, 2003 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

President Bush has proposed a $375.9 million budget for the Department of Education’s new Institute of Education Sciences. To outsiders at least, it seems to be strong on focused, long-term research, but skimpy on routes for getting it into schools.

“It’s kind of a one-step dance, when two steps are required,” said Gerald R. Sroufe, the government-relations director for the American Educational Research Association, based here. “We have to recognize that even brilliant research doesn’t automatically get translated into education policy.”

The $185 million that the administration is proposing to spend in fiscal 2004 for research, development, and dissemination represents a $10 million increase over Mr. Bush’s budget proposal last year.

Much of the new money would be discretionary spending to underwrite a variety of strategically focused research programs, some new and some already in place. They include research on improving teacher quality, on reducing behavior problems in school and developing character in children, and on effective reading and mathematics instruction.

The budget also sets aside another $2 million to further expand the forthcoming What Works Clearinghouse, a project aimed at rating educational products and practices on the scientific merit of their effectiveness claims and gathering the results into an easily accessible database for consumers.

On the other hand, the budget would “zero out” the $67.5 million that now supports regional education laboratories, which provide expert advice and development and dissemination services in 10 geographic areas.

Gone, too, would be the $28 million now spent for the comprehensive- assistance centers, which also offer technical expertise to schools and districts. Authority for those entities, however, has since moved to other offices in the department, according to department officials.

The president does, however, call for keeping the same level of support for the Educational Resources Information Center, or ERIC, clearinghouses, which collect, distribute, and analyze information on a variety of subjects, such as rural schools and small schools.

Up to the States

Despite the proposed changes, Grover J. “Russ” Whitehurst, the institute’s director and the former assistant secretary of the research office that preceded it, said the budget proposals do not represent a shift in departmental priorities.

“There are a lot of funds in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that are directed toward technical assistance,” Mr. Whitehurst said, “and the general position is that the states are in a better position than the federal government is to take what’s available to them for technical assistance and purchase what they need with the money.”

Disappointed supporters of the regional-lab system argued the timing for the proposed cuts was bad, coming as states are looking for more guidance to meet the new requirements laid down in the most recent revision of the ESEA, the “No Child Left Behind” Act of 2001.

“We are particularly surprised that the administration would repudiate Congress, as well as its own purported goals for education reform and scientifically based research in education,” said Jim Kohlmoos, the president of the National Education Knowledge Industry Association, a Washington-based group that includes the federal labs among its members.

He and others also noted that some of the proposed budget recommendations run counter to language in the Education Sciences Reform Act, the 2002 federal law that created the new federal research institute.

It’s likely, observers said, that the Congress may restore some of the programs targeted for elimination before a final research spending plan is approved for the 2004 budget.

Related Tags:

Events

Student Well-Being Webinar After-School Learning Top Priority: Academics or Fun?
Join our expert panel to discuss how after-school programs and schools can work together to help students recover from pandemic-related learning loss.
Budget & Finance Webinar Leverage New Funding Sources with Data-Informed Practices
Address the whole child using data-informed practices, gain valuable insights, and learn strategies that can benefit your district.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Classroom Technology Webinar
ChatGPT & Education: 8 Ways AI Improves Student Outcomes
Revolutionize student success! Don't miss our expert-led webinar demonstrating practical ways AI tools will elevate learning experiences.
Content provided by Inzata

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Federal Cardona Defends Biden's Education Budget and Proposals on Student Debt and Trans Athletes
House Republicans accused Education Secretary Miguel Cardona of indoctrinating students and causing drops in test scores.
4 min read
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona speaks during a ceremony honoring the Council of Chief State School Officers' 2023 Teachers of the Year in the Rose Garden of the White House on April 24, 2023, in Washington.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona speaks during a ceremony honoring the 2023 Teachers of the Year at the White House on April 24, 2023. He appeared before a U.S. House committee May 16, 2023, to defend the Biden administration's proposed education budget and other policies.
Andrew Harnik/AP
Federal Book Bans and Divisive Concepts Laws Will Hold U.S. Students Back, Secretary Cardona Says
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona participated in a summit this week that drew international education leaders to the nation's capital.
6 min read
Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona answers questions during an interview in his office in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, August 23, 2022.
Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona answers questions during an interview in his office in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, August 23, 2022.
Alyssa Schukar for Education Week
Federal Opinion The Lies America Tells Itself About Black Education
'A Nation at Risk' created a faux crisis to usher in the right's education agenda, argues Bettina L. Love.
4 min read
President Ronald Reagan is flanked by Education Secretary Terrel Bell, left, White House Policy director, during a meeting in the Cabinet Room in Washington, Feb. 23, 1984 where they discussed school discipline.
President Ronald Reagan and U.S. Secretary of Education Terrel H. Bell, left, during a meeting in the Cabinet Room, Feb. 23, 1984, where they discussed school discipline.
AP
Federal AFT Head Weingarten Says Her Union Didn’t Conspire With CDC on School Reopening Guidance
Some Republicans allege the union exercised its influence to keep schools closed longer than necessary.
7 min read
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, is sworn in to testify during a House Oversight and Accountability subcommittee hearing on COVID-19 school closures, Wednesday, April 26, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, is sworn in to testify during a House Oversight and Accountability subcommittee hearing on COVID-19 school closures, Wednesday, April 26, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Mariam Zuhaib/AP