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Three Years of Unfunded Mandates« Thread Started on May 22,

Daily newsbrief journal for May 2004, also see http://www.usdemocrats.com/brief for a global 100-page perpetual brief and follow twitter @usdemocrats


Three Years of Unfunded Mandates« Thread Started on May 22,

Postby admin » Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:44 am

Three Years of Unfunded Mandates« Thread Started on May 22, 2004, 11:50pm »--------------------------------------------------------------------------------The President Has Repeatedly Broken His Promise to Provide Federal Support for Education -- syndication, 14:52:19 01/09/04 Fri Every Child Left Behind: Three Years of Unfunded MandatesThe President Has Repeatedly Broken His Promise to Provide Federal Support for Education. In the two years since the President signed the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, none of his budgets have come close to meeting the level of funding authorized in the Act. The FY 2004 budget submitted by President Bush fell $9 billion short of the amount authorized for 2004 and his FY 2003 budget fell $7.2 billion short of approved funding. [Office of Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, 6/9/03; Associated Press, 2/24/03] Federal Education Reform Taxes State and Local Governments With Unfunded Mandates. In February 2003, the bipartisan National Governors Association voted unanimously to label Bush's No Child Left Behind Act an unfunded mandate, along with special education, homeland security and Medicaid. A November 2003 survey of nearly 2,000 superintendents and principals found that 9 in 10 viewed No Child Left Behind as an unfunded mandate. States and localities have struggled to keep up with the new requirements. Between fiscal years 2002 and 2004, education spending in 35 states was unable to keep pace with increases in inflation and enrollment. [The Wallace Foundation, www.wallacefoundation.org; Education Week, 1/7/04]Bush Failed to Provide Purchasing Power For His No Child Left Behind Act. The FY 2004 funding failure is $1.4 billion below what would be required to maintain 2003 purchasing power next year. Bush's FY 2003 budget proposal was little better, falling $7.2 billion short of funding approved for FY 2003 in the original legislation. [Office of Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, 6/9/03; National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), 2/03; CongressDaily, 2/3/03; National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), 2/5/03; New York Times, 2/5/03; Washington Post, 4/1/03]Bush Fails To Support Children From Low-Income Families, the Centerpiece of No Child Left Behind. The President's budgets since the enactment of No Child Left Behind have repeatedly failed to fund Title I funding, the key federal mechanism for educating poor children and encouraging reform at the state and local level. The President's FY 2003 budget was $ 4.6 billion short of that authorized by his own No Child Left Behind Act. Bush's FY 2004 budget called for $6 billion less in Title I funding. The President has already admitted that his new FY2005 budget set to be released shortly will fall $7 billion short of the amount authorized, meaning that 4.6 million children nationwide will not receive the education the President promised them. [Congressional Quarterly Weekly, 12/13/02; House Appropriations Committee Minority Staff "President Bush's FY 2004 Budget, Department of Education, A Preliminary Analysis, 2/3/03; Office of Democratic Senate Leader Tom Daschle, 1/7/04; Associated Press, 1/8/04]Bush Administration Inaccurately Claimed Budget Increases In Title I Funding. The Washington Post reported that the Education Department distributed a fact sheet that claimed "if President Bush's 2004 proposed education budget is enacted, Title I funding will have increased 41 percent since No Child Left Behind was signed into law." In fact, "when the 'No Child Left Behind' legislation was signed in January 2002, spending on the Title I education program was $10.35 billion (Bush had requested $9.06 billion). The president's proposal for 2004 is $12.35 billion, a 19 percent increase." Even this falls fall short of what Bush's program promised [Washington Post, 4/8/03; www.nclb.gov]Bush Administration Spends Fifty Times More on Tax Cuts Than Increased Education Spending. Federal tax cuts over the past two fiscal years totaled $478 billion, while Department of Education spending increased $9.4 billion -- a ratio of more than 50 to 1. Overall spending by the Department of Education increased from $56.2 billion in FY 2002 to $60.4 billion in FY 2003 to $61.4 billion in FY 2004 (projected) leaving a total of $9.4 billion in additional spending over the past two fiscal years. During that same period the federal government handed out $186 billion in tax cuts in FY 2003 and $292 billion in FY 2004 for a total of $478 billion in lost tax revenue. [www.ctj.org; www.ed.gov]Funding Shortfalls Undermine the Goals of No Child Left BehindDespite A Mandate In "No Child Left Behind" To Qualify All Teachers, Bush's Budget Cut Teacher Quality Programs. Bush's FY 2004 budget proposed $3.1 billion for teacher quality programs, 7.9% ($268 million) below 2003 enacted levels. A year earlier, Bush proposed freezing teacher quality initiatives for the 2003 budget. Yet Bush's own No Child Left Behind Act called for every teacher to be have obtained a state certificate or license to teach by 2005. [House Budget Committee Minority Staff, 3/9/03; House Appropriations Committee Minority Staff "President Bush's FY 2004 Budget, Department of Education, A Preliminary Analysis, 2/3/03; House Democratic Staff of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, 2/5/02]Important "No Child Left Behind" Programs Were Eliminated In Bush's FY 2004 Budget. Important programs for comprehensive school reform, rural education, dropout prevention, school counseling, training teachers to use technology and a program to provide resources to reduce class size were all eliminated from Bush's FY 2004 budget. Each program was part of Bush's own No Child Left Behind Act. [www.ed.gov; Office of Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, 6/9/03]Bush Refuses to Fund Vital School Modernization Projects. In 2002, President Bush fought for the repeal of a new federal initiative to modernize America's schools and provide safe, modern places to learn for all children. His budget plan fails to include any dedicated resources to address the $127 billion backlog in school repairs. America's schools are, on average, 42 years old; nearly 25,000 public schools, almost one-third of all public school buildings, are in a serious state of disrepair. As a result, more than 15 million students learn in facilities that have substandard heating, ventilation, plumbing, and roofing systems. [National Center for Education Statistics, How Old Are America's Public Schools?, 1/99, www.nces.ed.gov; GAO Report, School Facilities, 3/00; American Institute of Architects, Good Enough for Congress?; www.e-architect.com; House Democratic Staff of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, 2/5/02]Bush Turns His Back on Military Families In a Time of SacrificeBush's Budget Would Cut $200 Million From Impact Aid, The Program That Helps Fund Education For Children In Military Families. Bush's 2004 budget cut $200 million from Impact Aid, a program that helps military children receive a quality education. While Bush requested $1.2 billion for the entire Impact Aid program, most of that funding when to non-military groups. The military portion of Impact aid would fall in Bush's budget from $635 to $435 million. These cuts were not the only ones Bush had in store for military families. Bush's latest tax cut failed to extend a child tax credit to 200,000 low-income military families. Military housing programs were cut from $10.7 to $9.2 billion and veterans benefits were cut an astonishing $14.6 billion over ten years. [House Appropriations Committee, Minority Staff, 6/17/03, 6/16/03; Washington Post, 6/17/03]
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