Author: Patsy Crawford | Posted: 4. February 2010 02:07
On February 1, 2010, President Obama announced his Federal budget proposal for Federal Fiscal Year 2010. The proposal includes budget initiatives for the individual federal agencies including the U.S. Department of of Education (USDE) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). For USDE, the proposed budget includes, among other things:
- A $3 billion increase for k-12 programs and up to $1 billion if Congress overhauls the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), also known as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB);
- $1.35 billion to extend the Race to the Top competition and to expand the competition to include school districts as well as states;
- $950 million to support initiatives to improve the effectiveness of teachers and principals; and
- $490 million to develop more charter schools and other effective, autonomous public schools.
As part of the budget proposal for USDE, the president plans a major overhaul of ESEA including incorporation of the major education reforms specified in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). USDE Secretary Arne Duncan has indicated that the administration has not yet determined how the NCLB accountability system will be revamped.
For DHHS, the budget proposes, among other things. to provide:
- $25.5 billion to extend through June 2011 the temporary increase in the Federal Medicaid match that was provided by ARRA;
- $250 million to support fraud prevention in the Medicare and Medicaid programs and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP); and
- $989 million for Head Start and Early Head Start programs plus $1.6 billion for child care and development.
The proposed extension of the DHHS Federal Medicaid match would result in additional Medicaid for school districts in some states.
The budget proposal will be reviewed and finalized by Congress. For more information about the President's budget proposal, please visit the website for the Office of Management and Budget at
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/
