Faithin Omaha eBook Collection

Download or read book Fiscal Year 2007 Budget Summary and Background Information written by Department of Education, Washington, DC. and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 125 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Four years after the enactment of the "No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)," the revolutionary changes to the education system called for by President Bush are almost implemented. States have put in place rigorous new accountability systems and will implement reading and math assessments covering all students in grades 3-8 by the end of the current 2005-06 school year. Improved data collection and reporting on teacher qualifications are helping States to ensure that all teachers are highly qualified. School districts are providing new support and assistance to low-performing schools, while making available public school choice and supplemental educational service options to millions of students who attend those schools. The latest results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), better known as "The Nation's Report Card," show that these changes are paying off in the only way that counts: improved student achievement. Long-term NAEP trends show that America's 9-year-olds have made more progress in reading over the past five years than in the previous two decades, and the achievement gaps between African-American and Hispanic 9-year-olds and their white peers are at an all-time low. Importantly, NAEP also shows that students in large urban school districts--those most likely to be served by "NCLB" programs--have made larger achievement gains than the national average. Despite this progress in the early grades, NAEP results for older students provide a reminder of the need to hold fast on the "bright line" principles of "NCLB"--annual assessments in grades 3-8, disaggregation of data for key subgroups, and proficiency for all students in reading and math by 2014--and the challenge of ensuring continued US prosperity in a globally competitive, technology-based economy. The 2005 NAEP math results for 8th-graders, for example, are both illustrative and alarming: less than one-third of 8th-graders, and just 13 percent of low-income 8th-graders, scored at the proficient level or above. US math instruction clearly needs to kick into a higher gear, and this is a key goal of the President's 2007 Budget for Education. For 2007, the President is requesting $54.4 billion in discretionary appropriations for the Department of Education, a decrease of $3.1 billion, or 5.5 percent, from the 2006 level. Even with the proposed decrease, discretionary appropriations for the Department will have grown by almost $12.2 billion, or 29 percent, since fiscal year 2001. This publication is divided into 4 main parts: (1) Summary of the 2007 Budget; (1) The 2007 Budget by Program Area; (3) Programs Proposed for Elimination; and (4) Departmental Management. Appended are: (1) Summary of Discretionary Funds, Fiscal Years 2001-2007; (2) PART Rating of ED Programs; (3) Total Expenditures for Elementary and Secondary Education in the U.S.; and (4) Detailed Budget Table by Program. [This publication was produced by the U.S. Department of Education Budget Office.].