[Return to ED Homepage]
Statement by
Richard W. Riley
Secretary of Education
Before the U.S. House of Representatives
Appropriations Subcommittee
on Labor, Health & Human Services and Education
on the
Fiscal Year 1999 Budget Request
for the Department of Education
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, I am pleased to have this opportunity to talk with you about President Clinton's 1999 budget request for the Department of Education. I think you will find that the President's 1999 budget represents the most comprehensive effort yet to raise standards and give schools, teachers, and students the tools to reach those standards.
The 1999 budget is also the first to benefit from the annual planning process required under the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA). Last month, the Department submitted its first-ever Annual Performance Plan to Congress. The Fiscal Year 1999 Annual Plan aligns all of the Department's resources and improvement strategies with the goals and objectives of our Strategic Plan, which has received one of highest ratings of all Federal agency plans from the General Accounting Office.
The Annual Performance Plan includes a set of benchmarks that will help Department managers, Members of Congress, and taxpayers assess the effectiveness of Federal education programs. I want to emphasize that this is a new process. The Department consulted with Congress during the preparation of both the Strategic Plan and Annual Plan, and we welcome further comments and input from this Subcommittee and other Members of Congress as we work to implement GPRA. We think this is an important process to ensure that tax dollars are wisely and effectively utilized.
The President's 1999 budget proposal would reduce class size in grades 1-3, help school districts build new schools and modernize existing ones, improve teacher quality, target new assistance to poor urban and rural schools, help bring technology into the classroom, and give all Americans the financial support and information they need to go to college.
We are requesting a total of $31.2 billion in discretionary budget authority for fiscal year 1999, an increase of $1.7 billion or almost 6 percent over the 1998 level. The request also includes two major education initiatives that fall outside of the discretionary budget, and I want to briefly mention these before moving on to a summary of our discretionary request.
In addition, small classes would make it possible for teachers to provide extra support and attention to children with special needs, including children with disabilities and children with limited English proficiency, and would help reduce discipline problems in classrooms. The 1999 budget includes $1.1 billion in mandatory funding to launch the Class-Size initiative.
Second, the President is proposing Federal tax credits to pay the interest on almost $22 billion in bonds to build and renovate public schools. Schools across the country are suffering from overcrowding, created in part by the "baby boom echo" that will increase school enrollments every year for the next 10 years. These growing enrollments create a tremendous need for new schools in many districts.
In addition, the General Accounting Office has reported that existing schools require over $112 billion in repairs to ensure that teachers can teach and students can learn in safe and orderly conditions. I would also note that beyond the issue of safety is the need to modernize schools to take advantage of educational technologies.
The President's proposal would help to build or modernize an estimated 5,000 public schools, with approximately half of the support allocated to the 100 school districts enrolling the largest numbers of poor students. I want to emphasize, however, that the Class-Size and School Construction initiatives would improve educational opportunity and achievement for all students.
The primary Federal program for improving the achievement of such children remains the Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies program. The 1999 request includes a $392 million increase for Title I, all of which would be distributed to high-poverty urban and rural schools through the Concentration Grants and Targeted Grants formulas.
We also are proposing to increase the number of teachers qualified to teach the basics to Hispanic and other limited English proficient students by doubling funding for Bilingual Education Professional Development to $50 million.
The budget provides $260 million for America Reads, which would support local programs that provide tutoring and help improve reading instruction in our schools, so that every child can read well by the end of the 3rd grade.
In mathematics, we have new and disturbing evidence that our students are far short of where they need to be to compete in the knowledge-based economy of the 21st century. Last month, the Department released the latest results of Third International Math and Science Study (TIMSS), on which U.S. 12th graders outperformed their counterparts in only two of the 21 participating countries in math and science.
This level of performance is just unacceptable, and to my mind confirms the need to raise standards dramatically in American schools. When the 8th grade math curriculum in American schools looks like the 7th grade curriculum in other countries, and when 28 percent of our high school mathematics teachers did not major or minor in mathematics in college, it is clear that we have not set our expectations high enough.
The President's budget addresses this problem by proposing investments -- including the Class Size initiative, Title I, Goals 2000, America Reads, and Educational Technology -- that will help our schools prepare young people to read independently and well and to grasp both basic and more complex mathematics.
The 1999 budget also would help improve teaching and learning in math and science by providing $32 million to implement an Action Strategy developed jointly by the Department and the National Science Foundation. The strategy is designed to improve the math teaching of elementary and middle school teachers, assist communities in the selection and implementation of rigorous instructional materials, maximize the effective use of existing Federal resources, and promote public understanding of the importance of challenging middle school math.
For example, the new $200 million Education Opportunity Zones program would make approximately 50 grants to poor urban and rural districts to improve accountability, raise teacher quality, and expand public school choice. A $30 million increase in the Title I Comprehensive School Reform program, which was launched last year thanks to the leadership of Chairman Porter and Ranking Member Obey, would help some 3,500 schools accelerate educational improvements and turn around failing schools. A 25 percent increase in Charter Schools would support the expansion of public school choice through the start-up of up to 1,400 new or redesigned schools. And to help recruit and train new teachers for urban and rural areas, we are proposing to create a $67 million Teacher Recruitment and Preparation program in the reauthorized Higher Education Act.
School safety is a special concern in high-poverty areas, and extended learning time can help disadvantaged students catch up in their academic skills. That is why this budget includes $200 million to greatly expand the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program, which would support keeping approximately 4,000 schools open after-school as extended learning safe havens. In addition, we are requesting $50 million to hire Safe and Drug-Free Schools Coordinators, who would help almost half of all middle schools develop and implement effective strategies for keeping our kids away from drugs and preventing violence in schools.
The President's budget proposes $7.6 billion for the Pell Grant program, an increase of $249 million that would further raise the maximum Pell award from $3,000 to $3,100. A $70 million increase for Work-Study would reach the President's goal of providing one million recipients the opportunity to work their way through college.
We are asking for $583 million for the TRIO programs, a $53 million increase aimed at expanding the number of Upward Bound projects -- especially in under-served areas including Hispanic students. TRIO's efforts to encourage low-income students to prepare for and enter postsecondary education would be reinforced by the HIGH HOPES initiative.
HIGH HOPES for College for America's Youth would promote partnerships between colleges and middle or junior high schools in low-income communities. Beginning in the sixth or seventh grade, the program would give students information about college and what it takes to go to college, along with support services like mentoring and after-school activities that help children stay on track to complete high school and enroll in college.
HIGH HOPES would complement the TRIO programs by providing outreach services to whole grade levels or even entire schools, instead of a selected group of students. In addition, HIGH HOPES is based on a "community partnership" approach that involves local matching funds and helps leverage systemic changes in participating schools. The $140 million request for HIGH HOPES would be the first step toward serving more than 1 million students in 2,500 middle schools over the next five years.
I will be happy to take any questions you may have.
-###-
[ Return to Speeches and Testimony ]
[Return to ED Homepage]