Washington Shortchanges Children
and Public Schools Across the Nation

The law's commendable goals of high standards and accountability held the promise of helping every child receive a great public education, regardless of his or her family income, language spoken at home, or school funding level.

But for schools across the nation, the promise has gone unfulfilled for 48 million public school children. The escalating bureaucracy and paperwork imposed by the law are taking a toll on the nation's more than 14,000 public school districts, because Washington is not honoring its promise to pay for its regulations.

In FY 2005, the nation's schools received $9.8 billion less than they would have if No Child Left Behind was funded at the level Congress promised in the law. Under President Bush's proposed budget for 2006, the nation's schools will receive $12 billion less than what Congress authorized when the federal law was enacted.

Making matters worse, in the current school year ten states and a majority of districts had their Title I funding cut, making it more difficult for them to provide extra reading and math help to disadvantaged students. Next year, nine states and two-thirds of all school districts will see less money than this year.

Here's a look at the law's toll on schoolchildren in states where there are plaintiffs to the lawsuit.

Unmet promises in...

For information on the promises unfulfilled in other states:
- FY '05 federal education funding by State
- Proposed FY' 06 federal education funding by State

Connecticut

Public schoolchildren: 571,900
Public school districts: 191

Impact of costly federal regulations:
In FY 2005, Connecticut received $68.2 million less than it would have if No Child Left Behind was funded at the level Congress authorized. Under President Bush’s proposed budget for 2006, Connecticut would receive $109 million less than the authorized funding level.

• The proposed FY '06 budget shortchanges disadvantaged children by $71.3 million, leaving behind 24,888 children in Connecticut.

Illinois

Public schoolchildren: 2.1 million
Public school districts: 892

Impact of costly federal regulations:
In FY 2005, Illinois received $380.2 million less than it would have if No Child Left Behind was funded at the level Congress authorized. Under President Bush’s proposed budget for 2006, Illinois would receive $566 million less than the authorized funding level.

• The proposed FY '06 budget shortchanges disadvantaged children by $399 million, leaving behind 136,661 children in Illinois.

Indiana

Public schoolchildren: 1 million
Public school districts: 292

Impact of costly federal regulations:
In FY 2005, Indiana received $122.9 million less than it would have if No Child Left Behind was funded at the level Congress authorized. Under President Bush’s proposed budget for 2006, Indiana would receive $179.6 million less than the authorized funding level.

• The proposed FY '06 budget shortchanges disadvantaged children by $125 million, leaving behind 51,366 children in Indiana. 

Local voices:
An estimated 700 teachers, parents, school administrators and others rallied at the Statehouse for increased school spending. "I know we're in a deficit. It just feels like they're telling everybody to live up to the No Child Left Behind rules, but you're going to do it with less," said Rebekah Grider, a Manual High School music teacher. The rally was in Indianapolis, but most of the crowd drove in from Gary, where school officials expect to get $26 million less than they wanted. (Indianapolis Star, 3/31/05)

Michigan

Public schoolchildren: 1.7 million
Public school districts: 798

Impact of costly federal regulations:
In FY 2005, Michigan received $276.7 million less than it would have if No Child Left Behind was funded at the level Congress authorized. Under President Bush’s proposed budget for 2006, Michigan would receive $445.9 million less than the authorized funding level.

• The proposed FY '06 budget shortchanges disadvantaged children by $318.2 million, leaving behind 105,891 children in Michigan.
   

New Hampshire

Public schoolchildren: 207,600
Public school districts: 162

Impact of costly federal regulations:
In FY 2005, New Hampshire received $27.4 million less than it would have if No Child Left Behind was funded at the level Congress authorized. Under President Bush’s proposed budget for 2006, New Hampshire would receive $46.6 million less than the authorized funding level.

• The proposed FY '06 budget shortchanges disadvantaged children by $27.4 million, leaving behind 6,793 children in New Hampshire.

Ohio

Public schoolchildren: 1.8 million
Public school districts: 859

Impact of costly federal regulations:
In FY 2005, Ohio received $314.5 million less than it would have if No Child Left Behind was funded at the level Congress authorized. Under President Bush’s proposed budget for 2006, Ohio would receive $392.6 million less than the authorized funding level.

• The proposed FY '06 budget shortchanges disadvantaged children by $273 million, leaving behind 103,544 children in Ohio.

Local voices:
For three years, Wade Park Elementary School in Cleveland was on the list of low-performing schools but fought its way off last school year by improving fourth-grade scores, with 55 percent of students passing reading this past year, up from only five percent. This year, the school teachers and principal will try to do better with fewer resources: more than a quarter of the teaching staff is new to the school due to layoffs, and much of the teacher training and after-school tutoring that was credited with raising fourth-grade test scores has disappeared because of budget cuts. (Cleveland Plain Dealer, 10/05/04)

Pennsylvania

Public schoolchildren: 1.8 million
Public school districts: 500

Impact of costly federal regulations:
In FY 05, Pennsylvania received $271.9 million less than it would have if No Child Left Behind was funded at the level Congress authorized. Under President Bush’s proposed budget for 2006, Pennsylvania would receive $485 million less than the authorized funding level.

• The proposed FY ’06 budget shortchanges disadvantaged children by $349 million, leaving behind 119,824 children in Pennsylvania.

Texas

Public schoolchildren: 4.2 million
Public school districts: 1,224

Impact of costly federal regulations:
In FY 2005, Texas received $732.6 million less than it would have if No Child Left Behind was funded at the level Congress authorized. Under President Bush’s proposed budget for 2006, Texas would receive $1.2 billion million less than the authorized funding level.

• The proposed FY ’06 budget shortchanges disadvantaged children by $861 million, leaving behind 357,551 children in Texas.

Utah

Public schoolchildren: 481,100
Public school districts: 40

Impact of costly federal regulations:
In FY 2005, Utah received $27.4 million less than it would have if No Child Left Behind was funded at the level Congress authorized. Under President Bush's proposed budget for 2006, Utah would receive $68.4 million less than the authorized funding level. 

• The proposed FY '06 budget shortchanges disadvantaged children by $41 million, leaving behind 20,534 children in Utah.

Vermont

Public schoolchildren: 99,700
Public school districts: 284

Impact of costly federal regulations:
In FY 2005, Vermont received $26.7 million less than it would have if No Child Left Behind was funded at the level Congress authorized. Under President Bush’s proposed budget for 2006, Vermont would receive $42.4 million less than the authorized funding level.

• The proposed FY '06 budget shortchanges disadvantaged children by $24.7 million, leaving behind 4,917 children in Vermont.

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Primary Sources

Rankings & Estimates, NEA, May 2004 ( PDF file, 129 pages)

Fiscal Planning Services, Inc.
- FY '05 federal education funding data by State
- Proposed FY '06 federal education funding by State