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Subject: [NIFL-FAMILY:1274] xpost EDINFO, Ed. Appropriations
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The following is crossposted from the Nov. 17 EDINFO.
Robin Jurczyk
NIFL-Family list moderator
rjurczyk@aol.com
**************
YESTERDAY, the President signed into law a bill that funds
the U.S. Department of Education through September 30, 1998.
Below is a letter describing highlights of the bill. The
letter is addressed to Department employees, from Secretary
Richard Riley & Acting Deputy Secretary Marshall Smith;
however, we thought many of you might want to see it. The
President's remarks at the signing ceremony are available
at: http://www.ed.gov/PressReleases/11-1997/bill.html At
the bottom of this message are directions for locating the
full text of the bill (H.R. 2264) at the Library of
Congress's "Thomas" website.
======================================
Letter From Secretary Richard Riley &
Acting Deputy Secretary Marshall Smith
To Department of Education Employees,
November 14, 1997
======================================
On November 13, President Clinton signed into law P.L. 105-78,
the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill for fiscal year 1998.
The President noted that he was "signing into the record books
what is plainly the best year for American education in more than
a generation."
The Department's 1998 appropriations bill is an important
milestone in the President's effort to ensure that every 8-
year-old can read, every 12-year-old can log on to the Internet,
every 18-year-old can go on to college, and every adult can
continue to learn for a lifetime. The bill is also an enormous
vote of confidence in the work that all of you are doing here at
the Department of Education, and we want to describe some of its
highlights for you.
First, the bill provides a total of $29.4 billion in
discretionary funds for the Department. That's an increase of
$3.1 billion, or almost 12 percent over the 1997 level of $26.3
billion. Even more important than the dollar totals, however, is
the support the bill provides for the President's key
initiatives:
VOLUNTARY NATIONAL TESTS. The bill provides full funding to
proceed with immediate development of the first-ever voluntary
national tests in 4th grade reading and 8th grade math, based on
the widely accepted National Assessment of Educational Progress.
The National Assessment Governing Board will oversee policies and
development of the tests. The bill also permits pilot testing to
begin in Fall 1998.
THE AMERICA READS CHALLENGE. The bill provides nearly $300
million in new funding for the Department and other agencies to
implement the President's comprehensive strategy for involving
teachers, families and communities in ensuring that all children
learn to read well and independently by the end of third grade.
The $300 million includes $210 million in advance funding for
pending child literacy legislation, $25 million in new funding
for Eisenhower Professional Development State Grants that is
earmarked for professional development in reading, and a $16
million increase for the Even Start family literacy program.
BRINGING TECHNOLOGY TO THE CLASSROOM. Funding for the
President's Technology Literacy Challenge Fund is more than
doubled, from $200 million in 1997 to $425 million in 1998, to
help schools pay for computers and software connected to the
Internet, provide professional development in the integration of
technology into the curriculum, and apply technology to support
school reform efforts. The bill also includes an 86 percent
increase for Technology Innovation Challenge Grants -- from $57
million to $106 million -- to support a wide range of innovative
strategies for improving teaching and learning and increasing
student access to technology.
CHARTER SCHOOLS. An $80 million appropriation -- up $29 million
or 57 percent -- will accelerate progress toward the President's
goal of developing 3,000 new charter schools. Up to 500 new
charter schools will be funded in 1998, for a total of almost
1,000 federally supported, locally designed schools that enhance
choice, excellence, and accountability in public education.
PELL GRANTS. Congress provided a $1.4 billion (24 percent)
increase for Pell Grants that supports the President's proposal
to increase the maximum Pell Grant to $3,000 and raises the
number of Pell recipients by 220,000. The $300 increase in the
Pell maximum award is the largest in two decades.
COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL REFORM. This new $150 million program will
provide competitive awards of $50,000 to help almost 3,000
schools implement successful whole school reform approaches or
develop their own research-based reforms aimed at helping all
children meet challenging state standards.
SPECIAL EDUCATION GRANTS TO STATES. The bill appropriates $3.8
billion for Special Education Grants to States, an increase of
$700 million that will raise the federal share of serving about 6
million children with disabilities by 19 percent. This increase
will help states and school districts improve educational results
for children with disabilities and help these children meet high
standards, as called for by the recently enacted Individuals with
Disabilities Act Amendments of 1997.
AFTER-SCHOOL LEARNING CENTERS. The bill dramatically expands
this program, providing $40 million to support hundreds of
after-school centers in rural and urban schools across the
country. The centers will provide academic enrichment, tutoring,
and other learning opportunities while giving students a safe
haven during the often-dangerous after-school hours.
BILINGUAL AND IMMIGRANT EDUCATION. The $199 million appropriated
for bilingual education will help school districts teach English
to more than a million limited English proficient children, as
well as provide some 4,000 teachers with the training. The bill
also includes $150 million -- a 50 percent increase -- for the
Immigrant Education program to help more than a thousand school
districts provide supplemental instructional services to 875,000
recent immigrant students.
The following table highlights significant increases in the
Department's 1998 appropriations bill:
($ in millions)
Program 1997 1998 Increase
~~~~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~~~~
Technology Literacy Challenge Fund $200.0 $425.0 $225.0
Technology Innovation Challenge Grants 57.0 106.0 49.0
Comprehensive School Reform --- 150.0 150.0
Eisenhower State Grants 310.0 335.0 25.0
Charter Schools 51.0 80.0 29.0
America Reads Challenge --- 210.0 * 210.0
Bilingual and Immigrant Education 261.7 354.0 92.3
Special Education Grants to States 3,107.5 3,801.0 693.5
Pell Grants 5,919.0 7,344.9 1,425.9
After-School Learning Centers 1.0 40.0 39.0
* Funds become available on October 1, 1998 if pending child
literacy legislation is approved by July 1, 1998.
We join the President in noting the historic importance of the
1998 appropriations bill for the Department. We know you will
continue to work hard to carry out the President's education
reform strategy, and we are excited about the prospects for real
improvements in American education at every level in the coming
years.
Marshall S. Smith Richard W. Riley
Acting Deputy Secretary Secretary
===========================================================
Directions for Locating the Full Text of the "Departments of
Labor, Health & Human Services, and Education, and Related
Agencies Appropriations Act, 1998," (H.R. 2264) at the
Library of Congress's "Thomas" Website
===========================================================
1) Go to http://thomas.loc.gov
2) Go to Bills
3) Go to Major Legislation
4) Go to 105th
5) Click on Enacted into Law
6) Scroll down to item #21 "H.R. 2264"
7) Click on H.R. 2264
8) Scroll down to Law Text at the bottom of the page
9) Click on Law Text
===========================================================
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