EDUCATION

Senator Levin has worked consistently to make the federal government an effective partner in helping Michigan communities meet new and growing challenges to our public education system.

In 1979, his first year in the Senate, Senator Levin supported congressional efforts to create the U.S. Department of Education, making it a cabinet level agency, with a mission to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence throughout our nation's schools. Today, the department's elementary and secondary programs serve over 15,000 school districts and more than 50 million students attending over 92,000 public schools. The department also provides grants, loans and work-study assistance to more than eight million higher education students.

In the early 1980s, the quality of education became a heated national issue, prompted in part by the 1983 release of "A Nation At Risk," a federally sponsored report that cautioned us on the condition of American schools. Congress responded by keeping public attention on school reform, providing school improvement grants, and by increasing support for educationally disadvantaged students and the Eisenhower teacher professional development program.

In 1989, a bipartisan group of governors agreed to a set of national education goals to guide local, state and national school improvement efforts. By the 1990s, a movement had emerged to reform schools by setting higher standards for student learning in academic subjects. The federal government made grants to national organizations to develop model national standards in science, history and other core subjects.

In 1994, Congress strengthened federal education laws to spur reform, particularly in low-performing schools, by passing the "Goals 2000: Educate America Act." The act provided the resources to support the efforts of states and local communities to develop and implement their own reforms to improve their schools, while making sure students who needed the most help, received it.

The Senate adopted several of Senator Levin’s proposals to help meet this challenge, including his amendments to permit the use of school improvement funds for proven initiatives, such as Significantly Reduced Class Size (enhancing the teacher's ability to identify student learning needs), Intergenerational Mentoring and Tutoring (matching the academic and other talents of senior citizens with the needs of students), and Instruction in Chess (develops high order thinking skills, discipline and increased math skills).

By the mid-to-late 1990s significant gains were made; nearly all the states and many school districts had raised their academic standards. However, findings in the late 1990s showed that some states had lost ground. In an effort to regain this lost ground and to respond to new challenges, Congress, through the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, worked to further improve America’s public education system.

On December 18, 2001, the Senate approved the first major overhaul of the nation's education policy since 1994 as it voted overwhelmingly to use federal aid to leverage improvements in academic achievement. This bill, the No Child Left Behind Act, was signed into law on January 8, 2002.

The No Child Left Behind Act is intended to help all students make progress toward reaching their full potential. It focuses on initiatives that we know are effective, such as smaller classes; after-school programs; technology and technology training for teachers; targeting resources to Title I for educationally disadvantaged students; support for students with limited English proficiency; an expanded reading program; a strong Safe and Drug Free Schools program; high-quality professional development activities; and guarantees of a quality education for homeless children.

Senator Levin, however, has some concerns about the testing provisions in this law. He believes Congress must continue to monitor the impact of these provisions on students. Senator Levin was also disappointed that the Senate provision requiring Congress to fully fund 40 percent of special education costs was not retained in the final bill. Keeping this commitment is critical, and he will work to address this issue during the upcoming reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Additionally, Senator Levin has serious concerns about the way that the Administration is implementing this law.  Rather than helping every school system achieve the laudable goal of providing a high quality education to all of our children, the Administration has turned the No Child Left Behind Act into an unfunded mandate. The President's budget cuts funding for the Department of Education by $530 million - the first cut in overall education spending in a decade. School systems across the country are not being provided the funds they were promised to adequately meet the challenges the No Child Left Behind Act set forth.

In his first budget following enactment of this law on January 8, 2002, the President requested $7 billion less than what the No Child Left Behind Act authorized. In the years since, the Administration's subsequent budgets for No Child Left Behind have not improved.  The President's FY 2007 budget funded the No Child Left Behind Act some $15.4 billion below the authorized level and proposed the elimination of numerous education initiatives that are proven learning and teaching tools for our schools.  This signified the largest cut to education in the history of the Education Department.

The President's FY 2008 budget eliminates 44 programs, at a total of $2.2 billion, including the Perkins Loan program, Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants, the State Grants for Innovative Programs, education technology state grants, Even Start, Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants (SEOG), and the Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnerships (LEAP) program. 

Funding for IDEA Part B State Grants under the FY 2008 budget would be cut by $291 million below the FY 2007 level and $363 million or 3.6 percent below the FY 2007 level adjusted for inflation. The President has consistently underfunded IDEA programs, with FY 2007 requested levels providing only $10.7 billion, providing just 17 percent of the national average per-pupil expenditure toward meeting the excess costs of educating students with disabilities � less than half of the 40 percent �full funding� level that Congress committed to paying when the IDEA was first adopted 31 years ago. This is down from 18 percent in FY 2006 and 19 percent in FY 2005.

Senator Levin has long supported the Pell Grant Program and is pleased that the FY07 Continuing Resolution funds the program at $13.6 billion, which is an increase of $615.4 million, increasing the Pell Grant award by $260 to $4,310. The FY08 budget request proposes an increase in the maximum Pell Grant award to $5,400 by 2012, but only includes sufficient funding to maintain the FY06 level of $4,050, which is the same level President Bush proposed for each of 4 fiscal years from 2003 through 2006.

Senator Levin cosponsored Senator Kennedy's Student Debt Relief Act, which was introduced in the 110 th Congress. This bill would authorize an increase in the maximum Pell Grant award incrementally to $6,300 by the 2011-12 academic year, as well as providing needed changes to the federally subsidized student loan programs, reducing Stafford Loan interest rates from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent over five years.

Senator Levin believes federal funds for education should be targeted to help recruit and train quality teachers, reduce class size, repair aging school buildings, integrate technology into the classroom, provide after-school activities for all children and help establish a system that holds schools accountable for children's academic progress. He will continue to support funding for many vital education programs, and will work to fully fund the No Child Left Behind Act so that schools have the resources they need to meet its high standards.