After the economic-stimulus bill left the U.S. House of Representatives, education programs lost money. Except for one.
Funding for the "school improvement grant" program under NCLB's Title I fell to $1 billion in the Senate bill from $2 billion in the House bill. But in the final version, it's up to $3 billion. For a complete breakdown, see page 168 of the bill language on the House Appropriations Committee Web site.
The additional money for school improvement came at the expense of Title I grants to districts. Funding for those grants fell by $1 billion, to $10 billion in the final deal from $11 billion in the House bill.
The $3 billion for school improvement will be spread over fiscal years 2009 and 2010. The money marks a huge increase over what was available in the Bush years. The program received $125 million in fiscal 2007 and $491 million in fiscal 2008.
If you want to see how the money will be spent, you can read the NCLB law for yourself, starting at Section 1003.
I hesitate to expect any reform to come from education if the language of Section 1118 regarding parent involvement is not INCLUSIVE of ALL parents.
The irony of the law is that it requires local systems to set aside 1% of its Title I funding to include parents. Well, that is all fine and well, but when a school system EXCLUDES me because I pay the full $2.25 for my son's lunch then I miss out on opportunities to be involved.
Until school districts actually include all primary stakeholders, parents, into its basic system's approach, the result will NOT be an improved product. In layman's terms: if you only solicit feedback from parents who do not have the resources to be involved in the basic education process, and you use language that excludes parents who have the resources to be involved, then the school system has succeeded in eliminating parent involvement. I am aware of the district hiring parents to fill positions at the school that are paid with Title I funds, but in our district all of those school employee/parent coordinators do not even have children in the district or at that Title I school.
I truly hope that the federal government will require all school systems to use inclusive language for all parents, just as it mandated highly qualified teachers to all of our children.