President Obama's education agenda for the next four years may seem less like real reform, but rather ending, experts say, the power struggle with the actual budget problems and an ancient way between the Congress and the administration.
Obama's second term of office activities, this year desire to close the educational achievement gap, improve college graduation rates highest in the world. These lofty goals, however, may have to wait, members of Congress and Obama to solve some gritty funds, can not wait.
First, archive, automatically departments of the government spending cuts, the elimination of 8.2% of the funds, almost all of the Education Department's plan - before the end of this year unless Congress acts, in order to avoid layoffs.
The plan, according to the Office of Management and Budget Office, aimed at reducing disparities in education will take a hit of $ 1.3 billion. Funded special education, has been far below the Congress originally promised level, the reduction of over 100 million U.S. dollars. Most of the cuts will not take effect until the fall of next year, when the 2013-14 school year, but the impact of aid to help the region lost revenue due to the local tax exemption of federal property, will be cut off immediately.
Education advocates are optimistic the plan will be relatively small hash, leave the most significant impact of the educational programs.
"Even if the Republicans understand," said Michael, cut education funding is not, is popular with voters Bidelili, and former Education Department officials and executive vice president Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative education think tank.
Followed by a little something. Education Department, declined to comment on the agenda in the next four years, but Secretary Arne Duncan (Arne Duncan) said he wanted to stay in the second term of President Obama, suggesting that the government focus. Close attention to the signal of the government on education Bidelili and others said it likely will focus on early childhood education and higher education version.
A major focus in front of the nursery, Obama in his first term, when he stepped up to the liability rules of the Enlightenment, and expanded his game the TOP program, including preschool.
The two sides agreed to in Congress, the University of costs out of control, but there is not much the government can control. It can control the debate funding for students and federal loans, the role of government proposed a familiar differences. In 2010, when the Democrats control both houses of Congress, the federal government cut banks, start direct management of all loans. Many Republicans favor to restore the role of the private sector, in issuing federally guaranteed and subsidized loans.
Higher Education Edition is also equipped with a a subtle ticking time bomb. Student loan interest rates, new subsidized Stafford loans capped at 3.4%, and July 1, the due date for the piecemeal gap measure Congress passed last year will double. Pell grants for low-income family students the main source of federal aid, is facing the same type of crisis, such as medical insurance and social security rights of the cost curve becomes difficult to contain more and more people to participate.
When the tug of war between President Obama and Congress involved in K-12 education prospects increase.
Members of Congress more than half overdue decade Primary schools and Secondary Education Act reauthorization Education Department has granted a waiver, "No Child Left Behind, the Bush-era iteration behavior, flexible performance indicators .
The bipartisan agreement reached in Congress, the law should be fixed and re-authorized. , Who chairs the Senate committee, responsible for education, Democratic Senator Tom Harkin said in an e-mail, "the government's efforts to grant exemptions helpful creed, No Child Left Behind state run these patches temporary, stop-gap measures.
However, the Obama administration has little desire to policy in the hands of lawmakers. Long-winded in October, laid his schedule, Duncan did not mention the re-authorization.
"Accountability system is not a qualified exemption, but a smarter, more targeted and fair way to maintain their own responsibility," Duncan said in that speech.
In a sign of the uneven pace of progress, an important stimulus funds grant program to reverse the first years of the worst performing schools, according to data released Monday by the education sector performance varies.
Two-thirds of the schools received school improvement grants showed climbing, although most of these schools have made progress in math and reading scores before grants. Score in more than one of the four schools has been improving year grants began to decline. Duncan said, reversing the failure of education is a long-term process, and the results of a single year, paints an incomplete picture.
Former congressman recover control of the game are also eager to billions of dollars in grants competition program, Obama was founded in 2009, and variation of product status, raise standards. Management School District opened the competition this year, but economic stimulus money runs out, the program was significantly reduced in size.
Chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, Republican Rep. John Kline, in the race to the top, then the conditional waiver to bypass the parliamentary process, we should increase the uncertainty interview.
Teacher assessment is at the heart of another potential flashpoint. Chicago teachers go over one week in September, mainly through their evaluation of students' test scores. The teachers' unions to actively support Obama's re-election campaign, but Obama Department of Education to remain neutral in the frontcourt, and his former chief of staff, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, leading to crack down on striking teachers.
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