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Congress denies Pells to 90,000
The war in Iraq, homeland security, tax cuts for the wealthy and the budget deficit trumped discretionary spending for domestic programs in the omnibus spending bill the 108th Congress passed in its final days. The legislation, which President Bush signed on Dec. 8, provided below-inflation increases to all of higher education and effectively cut some 90,000 needy students from the Pell Grant financial aid program—and very likely will keep them away from college altogether.With more people needing help to pay for a college education—many of them attending the public colleges and universities where AFT members work—the demand for the need-based funds has soared. Yet, despite double-digit spikes in tuition, the maximum grant remains capped at $4,050, where it has been frozen for the past three years.
Last month, Bush proposed to increase Pells by $500 over the next five years. While welcome, that proposal still falls far short of Bush’s 2000 campaign promise to raise grants to $5,100.
Also, a congressional ban on updating tax tables, put in place last year to avoid cutting off tens of thousands of students from Pell money, was lifted. The new policy—which the AFT and other groups fought vigorously—gives the green light to the Education Department to update the tables to FY 2000. These changes will cause about 1 million potential students to have their awards reduced by $300. Another 90,000 will lose eligibility. The move will help the department save $300 million per year—a drop in the bucket considering the $3 billion shortfall it is meant to allay.
Social Security memo raises red flag
As this issue went to press, discussion about Social Security “reform” was intensifying in Washington. President Bush was talking about a program in “crisis,” although benefits are funded for decades. Then, on Jan. 6, the Wall Street Journal reported on an inside memo e-mailed by Peter Wehner, White House director of strategic initiatives. The memo makes clear that building support for privatization and benefit reduction is a priority of the first order for Bush’s new administration. It states that in addition to allowing workers to divert a portion of their Social Security payroll tax into privately managed accounts, the program must cut benefits to retirees. In the next issue of this publication, we’ll provide an overview of what’s proposed and how we’ll fight the president’s plan.
Spellings: Bush's education chief
AFT leaders describe Margaret Spellings, the Bush administration’s pick to replace outgoing Education Secretary Rod Paige, as a solid and pragmatic administrator well-versed in the issues and committed to public schools.“She is a very experienced and capable policy analyst,” says John Cole, president of the Texas Federation of Teachers and an AFT vice president, who worked closely with Spellings in the early and mid-1990s, when she served as then-governor George Bush’s senior adviser on education policy. Cole points in particular to her constructive role in implementing a statewide early-reading initiative that was spearheaded by the Texas federation and became the education centerpiece of Bush’s second term as governor.
Spellings, 46, is currently the president’s domestic policy adviser. The AFT is looking forward to continuing its “good working relationship” with her, says AFT president Edward J. McElroy, who points out that the union has worked with Spellings and has found her “accessible, open and willing to listen.”
The behind-the-scenes architect of the standards and mandatory testing provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act, Spellings has said little about her plans for higher education. Yet, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported that at a meeting in October on higher education accountability, she admitted that she is an “accountability hawk,” committed to improving the effectiveness of colleges and universities.
Speaking of accountability …
Under a new administration, the Department of Education again will take a crack at how it can get better information on college performance into the hands of families and decision-makers, says Sally Stroup, U.S. assistant secretary for postsecondary education. At an American Enterprise Institute forum on “Education after the 2004 Election,” Stroup acknowledged that conversations about accountability held during the course of structuring the Higher Education Act reauthorization didn’t go well. Under a new secretary, however, the department will be refocusing on the topic. “We will go through state accountability policies, see what they think is most important, and see if we can use it at the federal level,” she said at the Dec. 6 forum.The law already says “we can decide who gets money based on graduation rates,” she asserted, “but we haven’t done it because we needed better data.” She called accountability a “consumer protection” issue, but added, “If we can use it to reward and punish, that’s good, too.”
