Tell Congress: Oppose the Bush Budget  

President Bush has released his budget request for fiscal year 2009, which starts October 1, 2008. The Bush budget once again falls woefully short of needed funding for our nation's students and schools. The President's request:

• Funds programs under the No Child Left Behind Act at the current, underfunded level. 
• Eliminates over 40 programs including career and technical education, Even Start, family literacy, education technology, and parent resource centers.
• Cuts funding for 16 programs, including after-school, Safe and Drug-Free, and Teacher Quality State Grants. 
• Includes three voucher programs: the $300 million Pell Grants for Kids; a new after-school voucher program that would take funding away from the current after-school grant program; and the District of Columbia voucher program, which is otherwise set to expire in September. 

Arizona Education Association President John Wright, a classroom teacher with more than 20 years' experience, submitted testimony to a Senate subcommittee April 16 outlining what Congress can do through the education appropriations bill to ensure that every child attending public schools has a quality teacher.

Tell your members of Congress to support a Congressional Budget Resolution that provides schools and students the resources necessary to succeed.

I need more information:

• NEA's Position on Education Funding  
• Letters to Congress
• Statement of John Wright, President of Arizona Education Association on Improving Teacher Quality before the Subcommittee on Labor, Health & Human Services, Education and Related Agencies, United States Senate, 4/16/08   
  

Funding Charts

• Education vs. Defense Funding, FY 2001-09 (, 22K, 2 pp) (5/9/08)
• Investing Five Cents of the Federal Dollar in Education and Training (, 27K, 2 pp) (2/4/08)
• Total Education Department Discretionary Funds - Percentage Change by Fiscal Year, 2002-09 (, 26K, 1 pp) (2/4/08)

The Federal Budget Process, FY 2009
Use these charts to see your state's and your congressional district's share of funding under major federal education programs at each key stage of the federal budget process.

• President's budget request (2/4/08)

NCLB Funding Gaps
Use these charts to see how states are struggling to implement the No Child Left Behind Act without the full federal funding promised in the law.

• NCLB Funding Gap – Funding Promised in the Law vs. Funding Actually Received, FY 2002-09 ( PDF, 27K, 2 pp) (2/4/08)
• NCLB Percentage Change in Funding by Fiscal Year, 2002-09 ( PDF, 16k, 1 pp) (2/4/08)
• NCLB Annual Appropriations by Fiscal Year, 2002-09 ( PDF, 24k, 1 p) (2/4/08)
• NCLB Funding Gap by State – Funding Promised in the Law vs. Funding Actually Received, FY 2002-08 ( PDF, 20K, 1 pp) (3/6/08)
• The Gap Between Authorized and Actual Title 1 Funds, FY 2002-09  ( PDF, 27KB, 2 pp) (2/4/08)
  • The Gap Between Authorized and Actual Title I Funds by State, FY 2002-09
• The Gap Between Authorized and Actual Rural Education Funds, FY 2002-09  ( PDF, 27KB, 1 pp) (2/4/08)

Other Federal Education Funding Gaps
Use these charts to see how funding for major federal education programs continually falls short.

• Special Education Grants to States (IDEA Part B-611) – Federal Payment vs. Federal Promise, FY 1981-2009  ( PDF, 21KB, 1 pp) (2/4/08)
• IDEA Funding Gap - Funding Promised in the Law vs. Funding Actually Received, FY 2005-09  ( PDF, 27KB, 2 pp) (2/4/08)
• Federal Pell Grants Maximum Awards - Actual vs. Authorization & Total Cost of Attendance FY 1976-2009 ( PDF, 27KB, 1 pp) (2/4/08)