President George W. Bush released his 2009 budget on Monday, and Gadfly is struggling to summon the energy to care. By the time Congress acts on these proposals, it will probably be December and the President will be the lamest duck since Daffy. Said differently, this budget is dead on arrival. Which is a shame, because it's actually a decent statement of Uncle Sam's proper priorities. Included are Bush's "Pell Grants for Kids," a beefed-up teacher incentive fund, and restored funding for Reading First (one of only five "effective" Department of Education programs). Gone are the days when Republicans tried to out-bid Democrats on education spending--always a losing proposition. The education groups are howling about "level funding" for education overall but c'mon--it's an election year. Do you really expect school funding not to get a hefty increase?
"Bush Budget Proposes Level Funding of Education Dept.," by Alyson Klein, Education Week, February 4, 2008