• Education: Lifelines and lifeboats Education: Lifelines and lifeboats By February 21, 2005 St. Louis Post-Dispatch For the first time since taking office, President George W. Bush is proposing to reduce overall funding for education. In previous budgets, he has
• Education: Lifelines and lifeboats
Education: Lifelines and lifeboats
By February 21, 2005 St. Louis Post-Dispatch
For the first time since taking office, President George W. Bush is proposing to reduce overall funding for education. In previous budgets, he has trimmed many programs but raised overall funding. This time, he’s proposing to spend $530 million less on education in a $56 billion education budget that kills programs Mr. Bush regards as outdated and ineffective.
One unfortunate target of those cuts is vocational education. The president wants to eliminate it and use the $1.3 billion to improve traditional high schools instead. Post-Dispatch reporter Carolyn Bower notes that the president’s proposal would knock a $26 million hole in vocational programs in Missouri, which spends another $52 million in state funds for technical education.
There is debate about the value of public investment in vocational education. One study found no evidence that vocational courses added much to academic achievement or college enrollment. On the other hand, officials in the St. Louis School District say students who participated in technical education programs last year were more likely than their peers to attend college or to find work immediately.
It makes no sense to destroy vocational education training since it can be a lifeline to jobs in emerging telecommunications and health care fields, especially for students who have not fared well in traditional high schools and for whom college may not be an option. A much better strategy would be to improve vocational schools by putting more emphasis on English and math skills, just as the administration now is doing in traditional schools.
The Bush administration wants to spend $13.3 billion for Title I programs that offer extra reading and math for poor children. That’s $9.4 billion less than the $22.7 billion he and Congress had agreed to provide under the No Child Left Behind law for the 2006 fiscal year. Mr. Bush’s budget does not include new funding for Head Start, a program whose worth he has challenged in the past, and wants to freeze funding for after-school programs.
However, Mr. Bush did find $75 million for private school vouchers. He’s willing to fund this pet Republican program in spite of evidence that it does little to improve the academic performance of poor students. Funding for vouchers is relatively small, but when so many public schools are struggling to find the resources to meet No Child Left Behind requirements, every dollar – and certainly $75 million – counts. Vouchers, like charter schools, pay for lifeboats for a tiny minority of students fleeing sinking public schools; it’s the public schools that need the attention.
If Mr. Bush is serious about wanting to be remembered as the education president, he should be putting more resources into education, not undermining support for traditional public school programs and cutting many others. Congress must restrain his use of the budget ax.
