Hi everyone,
I've just spent a few hours going through the FY 2007 federal budget
(http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2007) looking for line-items on
various programs involving education technology, the digital divide,
literacy and other areas of personal interest. A few programs went up or
stayed the same, but most were cut or even eliminated. I've posted a
more detailed summary on my blog; in the meantime, here are some highlights.
A Quick Look at the Proposed 2007 Federal Budget
and Its Impact on Things I Care About
http://www.andycarvin.com/
permalink:
http://www.andycarvin.com/archives/2006/02/a_quick_look_at_the.html
Education Technology State Grants
This year: $279 million. Next year: Zippo.
At one time in history, the US Department of Education awarded millions
of dollars in challenge grants for improving access to education
technology in America's schools. The No Child Left Behind Act revamped
the way this money got doled out, essentially giving it to states in the
form of block grants. We've already seen this number drop from more than
half a billion dollars in 2005 to less than 300 million this year, and
now the White House wants to shut it altogether. Edtech advocates, quite
understandably, are furious. βThe elimination of this funding β which
allows all children access to technology and the Internet, helps train
teachers how to use and integrate technology into the curriculum, and
provides funding and support for core-curricular content β runs
completely counter to the goals and vision outline by the President,β
stated Sheryl Abshire in yesterday's press release from the Consortium
for School Networking. "I urge the Administration to rethink this grave
misstep on education technology funding."
21st Century Community Learning Centers
This year: $991 million. Next year: $981 million.
The purpose of this Department of Education program is "to provide
expanded academic enrichment opportunities for children attending low
performing schools." It's been touted by some as a community technology
center initiative, but the main focus is on helping students prepare for
NCLB-mandated standardized tests rather than technology education in
general.
Assistive Technology
This year: $30 million. Next year: $22 million.
The US Department of Education provides this money to states as formula
grants so that students with disabilities have access to assistive
technologies. Without these technologies, students with disabilities are
left at a severe disadvantage when compared to their non-disabled peers.
Vocational Education
This year: $1.3 billion. Next year: 800 million.
Half a billion bucks that were previously spent on vocational education
are going the way of the dodo, including $105 million tech-prep
education state grants, five million for tech prep demonstration funds
and $23 million for incarcerated youth education.
Adult Education
This year: $579 million. Next year: $580 million.
Adult ed basically dodged a bullet, with more than half a billion going
for state grants, and the National Institute of Literacy remaining
steady at seven million.
Community Technology Centers
This year: Zilch. Next year: Bupkus.
Once a hallmark digital divide program of the Clinton Administration,
the Bush White House killed it off last year. Why they bother to even
list it in the budget even though it's been zeroed out two years in a
row is beyond me. Twisting the knife, perhaps?
Literacy Through School Libraries
This year: $20 million. Next year: $20 million.
Funds support competitive grants to local educational agencies to
provide students with increased access to up-to-date school library
materials and certified professional library media specialists. Contrast
this with....
Literacy Program for Youth Offenders
This year: $5 million. Next year: Nada.
Improving your literacy is okay if your library doesn't have prison
guards, it would seem. Or another way to look at it: Teaching young
prisoners to make license plates, apparently, is more important than
teaching them to read them.
--
------------------------------
Andy Carvin
acarvin (at) edc . org
andycarvin (at) yahoo . com
http://www.digitaldivide.net
http://www.andycarvin.com
------------------------------
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