First Lady Promotes Reading but President Leaves Education Dept. Behind
Even as First Lady Laura Bush celebrated the importance of literacy on the Washington Mall last weekend, her husband was targeting the Education Department for its lowest increase in seven years.
The President's budget for overall education funding calls for an meager 0.3 % increase, well below his 4% ceiling for domestic spending or the level of inflation.1 Placing education toward the bottom of his budget requests breaks the promise of his first address to a joint session of Congress in 2001 when he claimed education would be "my top priority."
The President, who has unabashedly promoted his "No Child Left Behind" philosophy, is particularly shortchanging Title I funding, the primary program for economically disadvantaged students. His budget request for Title I falls 33% short of what Congress considers full funding under the law.
Lack of funding for the program will mean more than half of all poor children eligible for additional instruction and intensive services will be left out.
In the final analysis, "No Child Left Behind" looks as if it will turn out to be something of a misnomer. Funny; he did the same thing here in Texas. You'd think voters would have picked up on that by now, no? I suppose if you repeat something often enough, people will believe anything.
