On Monday President Obama released his budget plan for 2012 at Parkville Middle School and Center of Technology in Baltimore County, Maryland. This was a meaningful backdrop in light of the President’s bold move to increase the nations’ education budget by 4 percent to the tune of $77.4 billion. This proposal turns its nose at the notion that defunding public education is even an option.
President Obama’s budget focuses heavily on funding STEM education, spending $28.6 billion on PELL Grants, and committing over $4 billion on teacher recruitment and training. Other areas of proposed spending include a $300 million increase in Title I funding for predominantly low-income schools and $900 million for another round of the Race to the Top competition focusing on local districts.
American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten said Obama’s education budget reflects a continuing effort to improve public schools. “A strong economy and a strong public school system are inextricably linked and the President understands that support for education is an investment in our children and the future of our nation,” she said.
Watch theGrio’s Jeff Johnson’s interview with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan
Produced and edited by Rima Abdelkader
In a special interview with theGrio, US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan talks about the battle for America’s future being won or lost in America’s schools. He states, “the president is making very tough cuts, painful cuts. Pieces of our budget are being hit hard but we have to continue to invest” in education for this country’s children.
The cuts Duncan is speaking of concern members of the president’s base. While the President moved to further support the Pell Grant program, grants for summer students are slated to be slashed along with interest subsidies on graduate students’ loans. Additionally there are $265 million in cuts to career and technology education. However, these cuts seem to be a product of less than effective methodology. Duncan says the administration wants “to see better outcomes for children” and ensure “these are really rigorous programs that are preparing kids for the jobs of tomorrow, not the jobs of yesterday.”
And tomorrow is the biggest concern the President and Secretary Duncan have, as the Republican controlled House continues to lay out its proposal for education. Hard cuts and elimination of many aspects of the President’s budget are likely as the Republicans potentially propose to cut $1.1 billion from the Head Start program, which critics say would eliminate services for more than 200,000 children and more than 50,000 jobs.
The Chairman of the Education and the Workforce Committee, Rep. John Kline, (R-MN) responded to Obama’s education budget by saying, “Throwing more money at our nation’s broken education system ignores reality and does a disservice to students and taxpayers.” The Republican’s proposal may be voted on by the House before this week is out.
If anyone is waiting on Superman, it may be the president, as there seems to be very little proactive engagement by Democrats or the left to defend key portions of President Obama’s education plan.
