A few minutes ago I shared my main thoughts about the President's budget request for education. Now let's read between the lines and examine the big winners and losers.
Winners
- ??? Charter school networks like KIPP. Not only would this budget make them eligible for "regular" charter school grants for the first time, it would also extend the education stimulus's "Investing in Innovation" fund, whose dollars will largely end up in their pockets.
- ??? Teach For America, The New Teacher Project, and New Leaders for New Schools. A new, $405 million "Teacher and Leaders Pathways" program seems tailor-made for the human-capital-troika.
- ??? Magnet Schools. In a nod to the civil rights community, the classic school desegregation program gets a 10 percent boost.
Losers
- ??? Scientifically-based Reading Instruction. Reading First and Early Reading First are toast, to be replaced by a $450 million, ill-defined "literacy" program.
- ??? American history. Senator Byrd's "Teaching America History" program would be merged with a bunch of others to create the "Effective Teaching and Learning for a Well-Rounded Education" program (ETALFAWREP).
- ??? Children's television. The "Ready to Learn" program--which subsidizes kids shows on public television--would go the way of the dinosaur.
-Mike Petrilli
