Education Funding

Senate Votes to Hike Ed. Budget By $8.2 Billion

April 02, 2003 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

The Senate has had a hard time saying no to schools lately: In the past two weeks, it’s backed amendments to a budget blueprint that caused the education price tag to skyrocket.

When the final numbers were tallied last week, the Republican-controlled Senate was on record supporting about $8.2 billion more than President Bush wants for the Department of Education in fiscal 2004, a 15 percent increase. The House a week earlier had approved a budget resolution that appeared to largely embrace Mr. Bush’s request.

But before states and districts start counting any extra cash, the Senate proposals will have to leap a few big hurdles, including thorny negotiations with the House, where the Senate figure is almost certain to drop.

The Senate on March 26 approved the budget resolution, which guides tax and spending decisions, by a largely party-line vote of 56-44. Even with the extra education money, most Democrats said they couldn’t stomach the budget plan, especially given its emphasis on tax cuts.

That said, Democrats, joined by a small group of moderate Republicans, succeeded earlier in scaling back the tax cuts.

Higher and Higher

For the Education Department, the original Senate bill envisioned a fairly modest increase of about $1 billion over the $53.1 billion in discretionary spending allotted for the current budget year, fiscal 2003. Mr. Bush’s request for the coming year would provide about the same level, though with some reshuffled priorities.

But apparently, the billion-dollar increase was a mere warm-up for the Senate floor debate.

First, countering one of the many Democratic amendments aimed at education, Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., offered a measure to raise the special education budget by another $1 billion in fiscal 2004, and more still in later years. The catch to his amendment, which was approved 88-11, was that it would be paid for with unspecified cuts elsewhere.

All told, the Senate bill calls for a $2 billion rise for special education state grants over the $8.8 billion for 2003. An additional $205 million would go into a reserve fund to be used if Congress reauthorizes the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act this year.

Two other successful GOP amendments followed a similar pattern of requiring unspecified offsets. Those measures added a $2 billion block grant for school districts and an extra $112 million for the $1.1 billion impact-aid program, which provides financial help to school districts whose tax bases are limited by the presence of federal installations.

Meanwhile, three Democratic measures that won approval would be offset by lowering proposed tax cuts. One would add $1.8 billion for Pell Grants for needy college students; another would allow $275 million for several education programs, including school construction; and the third would provide an extra $2 billion for programs under the “No Child Left Behind” Act of 2001.

The increases, however, are far from a done deal.

First, while the budget resolution does not require the president’s signature, the two chambers must reconcile the differences in their plans. Second, the key figure in the budget resolution actually is the overall discretionary-spending limit. Congress still must pass 13 spending bills to lock in specific figures for federal programs and agencies, including the Education Department.

Republicans defeated several other Democratic attempts to provide still more education dollars.

“To continue to add money to these educational accounts is really the theater of uncontrolled spending,” said Sen. Gregg. "[I]t is not substance any longer that we are dealing with; it is simply the purposes of show.”

Jim Manley, a spokesman for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., said he’s not persuaded that most Republicans really support the spending levels for education in the bill.

Mr. Manley suggested some in the GOP may have backed the amendments “hoping it will all disappear when it comes out of conference [with the House].”

But, he added, “they’re on the record as voting for these things. It’s hard to justify moving away from these now.”

Events

Artificial Intelligence K-12 Essentials Forum How AI Use Is Expanding in K-12 Schools
Join this free virtual event to explore how AI technology is—and is not—improving K-12 teaching and learning.
Federal Webinar The Trump Budget and Schools: Subscriber Exclusive Quick Hit
EdWeek subscribers, join this 30-minute webinar to find out what the latest federal policy changes mean for K-12 education.
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
Curriculum Webinar
End Student Boredom: K-12 Publisher's Guide to 70% Engagement Boost
Calling all K-12 Publishers! Student engagement flatlining? Learn how to boost it by up to 70%.
Content provided by KITABOO

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

Education Funding Kennedy Assures Congress Funding for Head Start Will Not Be Cut
Kennedy said the administration would “emphasize healthy eating in Head Start."
1 min read
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appears before a Senate committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing at the U.S. Capitol on May 14, 2025, in Washington.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appears before the Senate's Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee at the U.S. Capitol on May 14, 2025. The secretary told lawmakers the Trump administration wouldn't cut funding for Head Start after an early budget draft proposed eliminating the early childhood program for children from low-income families.
John McDonnell/AP
Education Funding Billions for Schools Are in Limbo as Trump Admin. Denies State Funding Requests
Chaos and confusion continue to reign as states scramble to spend the last of their COVID relief funds under new deadlines.
8 min read
Illustration of a man pushing half of clock and half of a money coin forward on a red arrow
iStock/Getty Images Plus
Education Funding The Big Questions About Trump's K-12 Budget Proposal, Answered
Trump is proposing to cut billions of dollars in K-12 investments, consolidate grant programs, and potentially rejigger special education law.
13 min read
An aerial view of a maze made up of 100 dollar bills with two clay figures. One looks like Trump with blond hair and in a blue suit with a red tie and he's waving to another white business man in a suit walking away from him.
iStock/Getty
Education Funding Trump Asks Congress to Slash Billions in Education Funding—and 'Preserve' Title I
A White House budget proposal calls for consolidating grants, eliminating key funding streams, and ramping up charter school investments.
8 min read
Vector illustration of business persons tightening the purse/finances.
iStock/Getty