Speaking to the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce yesterday about the No Child Left Behind Act, President Bush said: “There’s money in the federal budget to provide the extra help” to local school districts to pay for the mandates under the law.

But when President Bush proposed his budget in February, he underfunded the No Child Left Behind Act by $9.4 billion, while House Republican budget shortchange the law by $8.8 billion in their budget.

The Democratic budget, however, over ten years, provides $51.4 billion more in appropriations than the President’s budget for education, training, and social services. This additional funding in the Democratic budget can support the important programs under the “No Child Left Behind” Act. For example, the Democratic budget can provide additional resources for Title I (Education’s largest program that helps students meet new, strong student achievement standards), programs to improve teacher quality, and reading programs, among others.