January 14, 2005

CONTACT YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS: BUSH HIGH SCHOOL REFORM PLAN COULD BLOCK GRANT PERKINS FUNDS

WHAT: In a speech at J.E.B. Stuart High School in Falls Church, Virginia, on January 12, 2005, President Bush provided more details on his earlier proposals reform high schools and previewed his Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 Budget Request, scheduled to be released on February 7, 2005. In the speech, the President announced a new High School Initiative to be funded at $1.5 billion in his FY 2006 budget. A White House fact sheet stated:

• "$1.2 billion will be used for High School Intervention to help states hold high schools accountable for teaching all students and to provide effective interventions for those students who are not learning at grade level. In return for a commitment to improve academic achievement and graduation rates for secondary school students, states will receive the flexibility to choose which programs will be most effective in serving the needs of their high school students. And $250 million will be used for State Assessments to ensure that high school diplomas are truly meaningful with required state assessments in high school."
  
  
• "To make the taxpayer dollar work smarter, and still provide funding for states under the High School Initiative, programs with a narrow focus and programs that have not proven effective in improving our secondary students’ academic achievement will be consolidated."

BACKGROUND: While policymakers and education advocates, including ACTE, have long called for the increased focus on high schools, and appreciate the attention to this critical component of the American education system, the tight budget situation means that these reforms will likely come at the expense of other successfully established education programs. In the text of his speech, President Bush identified "vocational education" as one of those programs that might be consolidated to make room for his new initiatives.

He said, "To support intervention plans, I believe we need to improve the way the federal government funds high schools. The federal government -- oh, we've got a lot of programs designed to help high school students; over the years, programs have developed. The problem is they're like silos. They're prescriptions that may not meet the needs of the local high school, or the local school district -- you know, a program to promote vocational education, or to prepare for college preparation, or to encourage school restructuring. They all sound fine, and they're all important. But they may not be what is necessary for a particular school district or a high school to achieve the objective of teaching every child to read and write and add and subtract. So I believe we ought to consolidate the high school improvement programs so that states have the flexibility to choose the program that works best for their students."

To read more, please visit www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/01/20050112-3.html and www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/01/20050112-5.html.

The President’s comments lead ACTE to believe that the proposal amounts to a high school BLOCK GRANT, which could mean the elimination of individual funding streams and dedicated funding for programs like Perkins. While the details of these proposals are still emerging, and we don’t know for sure which programs the Administration is targeting for consolidation, we are certainly concerned as to what this could mean for CTE programs when the President’s formal budget request is released.

The President’s budget request is only the start of the annual budget and appropriations process. Congress makes the bulk of the funding decisions for federal government, and has rejected the President’s cuts to the Perkins program for the past two years. However, this will be a very tight budget year for Congress, and it should not be assumed that CTE programs will be safe from budget cuts.

ACTION NEEDED: To keep us a step ahead of possible repercussions from this proposal, contact your Members of Congress in the House and Senate by phone, fax, or e-mail and:

• Let Members of Congress know that while you support increased emphasis on high school improvement, it should not occur at the expense of other programs already successfully serving students, such as the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act. Ask them to oppose any efforts to combine Perkins funds into a high school improvement block grant with no funds designated specifically for career and technical education.
  
  
• Explain that Perkins is working well in your community; that CTE provides relevant learning experiences for students, effective and proven links to skills-building opportunities and improved employment outcomes; that it reduces dropout rates; that employers in your local area continue to need well-trained workers with good skills; and that CTE serves many in your community in a variety of settings, not only in high schools.

We appreciate your efforts! For more information, contact the Association for Career and Technical Education's Public Policy Department, 1410 King Street, Alexandria, VA 22315, 1-800-826-9972, www.acteonline.org.  

Christin Driscoll
Senior Director of Public Policy
cdriscoll@acteonline.org
(703) 683-9311

Alisha Dixon Hyslop
Assistant Director of Public Policy
ahyslop@acteonline.org
(703) 683-9331

Keri Haars
Advocacy Manager
khaars@acteonline.org
(703) 683-9337