Obama's Budget Boosts Preschool, Access To Top Teachers, But Freezes Many Education Programs
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| President Barack Obama sits with Marcus Wesby and other preschool student during his visit to Powell Elementary School in the Petworth neighborhood of Washington, Tuesday, March 4, 2014. Obama visited the school to talk about his fiscal 2015 federal budget proposal, which was released today. Powell elementary has seen rapid growth in recent years and serves a predominantly Hispanic student body. Washington DC Mayor Vincent Gray, who greeted Obama at the school, recently directed $20 million to P | ASSOCIATED PRESS |
President Barack Obama's 2015 budget request increases education funding 2 percent over the previous year, cheering many education advocates, and proposes a revamped Race to the Top competition that focuses on opportunity for all students and a tobacco tax to pay for a previously-announced preschool expansion effort.
Obama announced the budget, which would restore across-the-board cuts known as sequestration, at Powell Elementary School in Washington.
"We know -- and this is part of the reason why we’re here today -- that education has to start at the earliest possible ages," Obama said. "So this budget expands access to the kind of high-quality preschool and other early learning programs to give all of our children the same kinds of opportunities that those wonderful children that we just saw are getting right here at Powell."
In a call with reporters, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said the budget speech setting was no accident. "In tough economic times, education is receiving the largest non-defense increase" in discretionary spending, Duncan said.
Many newer education initiatives, such as a high school redesign competition, receive a boost in Obama's budget. But some key programs, including most parts of the