Return-Path: <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id gBACUxX26905; Tue, 10 Dec 2002 07:30:59 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 10 Dec 2002 07:30:59 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <E36F3FEA-0C3A-11D7-B076-000393ABE4D2@litwomen.org> Errors-To: alcrsb@langate.gsu.edu Reply-To: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "mev@litwomen.org" <mev@litwomen.org> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-WOMENLIT:2422] re: community colleges X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.548) Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Status: O Content-Length: 3903 Lines: 83 (cross-posted) For those of you with students who may be planning on community college, here's something else to worry about. Why is it that the Bush administration seems so hell bent on taking away educational programs for adult learners -- directly or indirectly??! Mev ________________________ Tuesday, December 10, 2002 http://chronicle.com/daily/2002/12/2002121001n.htm Community Colleges Oppose Reported Plan to Eliminate $1.2-Billion Vocational-Education Program By JAMILAH EVELYN Washington Community-college officials are worried about reports that President Bush may soon propose eliminating the entire budget -- $1.2-billion -- for spending under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act. The money would reportedly be used to deal with a growing deficit in the Pell Grant Program. Officials in both the White House's Office of Management and Budget and the U.S. Education Department's Office of Vocational and Adult Education, which administers the Perkins funds, declined to comment on whether the administration was considering any cuts to the program. December is frequently a month in which administrations float ideas on ways to deal with budget problems, and while some of those ideas find their way into the president's budget plan the next year, many others disappear. But many higher-education lobbyists cite "reliable sources" who say that when President Bush makes his budget proposal to Congress early next year, he may recommend entirely eliminating support for the program, which doles out some $1.2-billion annually to community colleges and secondary schools for skills-based training. In a speech last week at Borough of Manhattan Community College, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a Democrat from New York, said she had written to the president, urging him not to rob "Perkins to pay for Pell." "Any threat to Perkins, even if it's only being considered, is extremely bothersome," said Ellynne Bannon, a legislative associate at the American Association of Community Colleges, which is urging its members to write to members of Congress, particularly Republicans. "At a time when most states are in a tough financial situation, the idea of cutting this critical funding source for community colleges is unimaginable." Officials at the community-college association note that the Bush administration has put in place new accountability measures that rate federal programs according to their effectiveness. Because Perkins money is spent by states in a variety of ways, the program generally does not fare well under performance indicators. Still, when word of the possible cut first spread, it caught officials at many higher-education associations by surprise because they say the Bush administration has been aggressive in planning for reauthorization of the Perkins Act, which Congress is scheduled to take up sometime next year. Christopher Simmons, assistant director of government relations at the American Council on Education, said that he was shocked. "I find it really surprising that the administration that claims to be so dedicated to education would consider cutting one of the most important programs for community colleges," he said. It was not immediately clear how an elimination of funds would affect reauthorization of the act, but one higher-education lobbyist, who asked not to be named, said that it would make things "awkward at best." Higher-education institutions receive roughly 40 percent of Perkins funds, with the majority going to two-year colleges to help pay for equipment, staff development, remedial classes, and curriculum development, among other things. The remaining 60 percent goes to high schools that focus on career education. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright © 2002 by The Chronicle of Higher Education
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