Andrea Batista Schlesinger

DMI on the SOTU: Leave behind the “American Competitiveness Initiative”

Full federal funding for No Child Left Behind programs is necessary to strengthen public education and prevent localities from having to raise property taxes that fall hard on the middle class.

" While the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) remains a controversial measure, even the law's critics agree that it is mostly likely to succeed in increasing the quality of public education if it is well funded by the federal government. Proposals to strengthen math and science are only relevant if they are fully funded, otherwise they are a massive unfunded mandate for states and localities across the nation, forcing them to raise property taxes on the middle class to finance the new testing regimens and tutoring programs required by the law.

Relevant Statistics:
" Decrease in funding for elementary and secondary education programs in Congress' proposed fiscal 2006 budget, compared to 2005: $1.2 billion
" Estimated proportion of U.S. schools that lack the resources to implement NCLB standards: HALF
" Percentage of U.S. students who attend public school: 85%, totaling 41.6 million
" Increase in 2006 federal funding for title I grants, which make up the bulk of NCLB funding: $603 million, 15% of which will go to transportation costs incurred while busing students to schools that aren't failing.
" Number of states that say they do not have sufficient staff to carry out the administrative duties mandated by NCLB: 37
" 38 of 48 states do not have sufficient state-level staff needed to successfully implement NCLB
" Percentage of voters who say the federal government should spend more on the nation's schools: 67
" Percentage of education funding that comes from the federal government: 8%
" Percentage of classroom activity affected by NCLB: nearly all

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Posted at 9:51 PM, Jan 31, 2006 in Education
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