The Department's Budget 'Plan B'
As we've already reported, the U.S. Department of Education put out a bold new budget proposal last week that includes major program consolidations and sketches out the preliminary details of the administration's plan to renew the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
That reauthorization would have to pass this year for many of the budget proposals to become reality. Many folks think that's a long shot. And it appears that the department is at least preparing for the possibility that the bill won't make it to prime time this year.
Buried in the mega-thick budget document is the administration's budget contingency plan, in case there's no reauthorization. (For the full proposal gohere, then click on the link that says Fiscal Year 2011 Education Budget Summary and Background Information. The chart is on page 33.)
The headline? The contingency request seeks $900 million for the Teacher Incentive Fund, more than double the $400 million the program received in fiscal year 2010. That's about the same level as the $950 million Teacher and Leader Innovation Fund, which is one of the new funding streams proposed in the department's budget.