National Education Organizations Respond to the President’s FY2013 Budget Proposal
On February 13, 2012, President Obama released hisFY2013 budget proposal. While many analysts believe the budget is dead on arrival in Congress, those in the education community are praising the president for recognizing the important role that education plays in our economy and our society.In his budget, President Obama called for the U.S. Department of Education to receive a $1.7 billion (2.5 percent) increase in education spending over the current budget year – one of only two departments to receive an increase. Highlights from the budget impacting k-12 education include $30 billion for school modernization, $30 billion to help prevent teacher layoffs and improve teacher quality, money for competitive grant programs (including $850 million for Race to the Top, $150 million for Investing in Innovation [i3], and a new $5 billion competitive program aimed at attracting, preparing, and rewarding great