EdWeek reports that Congress’s new budget ignored the funding proposals by the Trump administration’s to slash education spending and shift large sums of money to choice.
Congratulations to a bipartisan coalition in a congress that stopped Trump and DeVos from performing radical surgery on useful federal programs.
“Lawmakers sent a message to President Donald Trump and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos in their bill to fund the federal government: We’re not the biggest fans of your big education ideas.
“Congress would increase spending at the U.S. Department of Education by $2.6 billion over previously enacted levels in fiscal year 2018, up to $70.9 billion, under a new omnibus spending bill that could finally resolve a months-long logjam on Capitol Hill.
“In addition, funding for Title I, the biggest pot of federal money for public schools, which is earmarked for disadvantaged students, would increase by $300 million from fiscal 2017 enacted spending, up to $15.8 billion.
“The fiscal 2018 spending bill, released late Wednesday, doesn’t contain several key changes sought by Trump in his first budget plan. In fact, Trump’s budget plan for fiscal 2018 would have cut discretionary education spending by $9.2 billion. So Congress’ bill is a significant rebuke of sorts to the president’s education vision.
“In fact, the spending bill leaves out a $250 million private school choice initiative the president and DeVos sought, as well as a $1 billion program designed to encourage open enrollment in districts.
“Title II, which provides professional development to educators, would be flat-funded at roughly $2.1 billion. The Trump budget pitch for fiscal 2018 eliminated Title II entirely—it was the single biggest cut to K-12 Trump sought for fiscal 2018. And Title IV, a block grant for districts that can fund a diverse set of needs from school safety to ed-tech, would receive $1.1 billion, a big increase from its curent funding level of $400 million. Trump also sought to eliminate Title IV.
“Funding for 21st Century Community Learning Centers would rise up by $20 million up to $1.2 billion; that’s another program the Trump budget proposal axed. In addition, special education grants would go up by $299 million to $13.1 billion. And federal aid to charter schools would increase to $400 million, a $58 million boost…
”The top Senate Democrat for education, Sen. Patty Murray of Washington state, praised the bipartisan agreement to dismiss the “extreme ideas to privatize our nation’s public schools and dismantle the Department of Education” from DeVos.”
Too bad that the federal government will put more money into charters. Democrats still fail to realize the dangers of privatization posed by privately managed charters, which take public money but fight accountability and oversight. Nor do they seem alarmed that public schools are being eliminated in cities like Indianapolis and Washington, D.C.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“Democrats still fail to realize the dangers of privatization posed by privately managed charters, which take public money but fight accountability and oversight.”
It’s not that they fail to realize it. It is that they KOWINGLY support it.
The members of Congress have entire staffs who keep their bosses appraised of what is going on.
The idea that members of Congress are just naiive is not plausible.
Congressmen and women are mostly lawyers, so they know that when it comes to law, ignorance is not a defense — although they regularly use that defense.
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Amen. The DFERS refuse to admit they are SO WRONG.
And there’s Puerto Rico’s schools … SAD.
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Well said, SomeDAM, and absolutely right. Ignorance is no defense when drafting bad legislation.
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Do you think that Republicans representing rural constituencies are recognizing that defunding public education hurts their districts harder?
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It is long past time for ALL Legislators to stand up against privatization of our public schools. When I write “ALL” I mean at the local, state and federal levels. It will take a strong concerted effort at all levels to stop the destruction of our public schools. State Legislators in almost every State in the Union are blindly funding school of choice, not holding accountable schools of choice that are failing to provide proper education for the Students, allowing funding to be fraudulently taken from school accounts or turning a blind eye to wasteful spending. It is also time for we, the voters, to get rid of the Legislators and Governors that are supporting the destruction of our schools. We all have to stand up and stop the destruction.
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This is also in the budget proposal:
Budget Deal Lifts Ban On Federal Research Of Gun Violence…HuffPost
Gun rights advocates have for years opposed focusing on firearms as a public health issue.
By Igor Bobic
WASHINGTON ―The federal government would finally be authorized to study gun violence under a provision included in a two-year $1.3 trillion spending package released by congressional leaders Wednesday night.
Collecting data about gun violence is difficult in the United States because of a 1996 law that restricts federal funding to research the issue. The so-called Dickey Amendment, named after former Rep. Jay Dickey (R-Ark.), effectively ended such research by barring the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from studying gun violence as a public health issue.
Democrats and gun control advocates renewed a push to lift the prohibition after last month’s shooting in Parkland, Florida, where a gunman opened fire at a high school, killing 17 people and wounding dozens of others.
But gun rights advocates like the National Rifle Association have for years opposed the treatment of firearms as a public health issue ― warning it would lead to the erosion of the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.
The budget deal unveiled by lawmakers on Wednesday does not repeal the Dickey Amendment outright. Instead, the bill clarifies the amendment’s language so that it would no longer prohibit the research into gun violence.
In exchange, Democrats assented to several other modest proposals authored by Republicans that would boost the FBI’s beleaguered background-check system and increase funds to schools in order to improve campus safety. Democrats previously argued the budget deal ought to include broader gun control measures like universal background checks.
The government is currently funded through Friday. It’s unclear whether lawmakers will be able to pass it both in the House and Senate in the next two days, risking a potential lapse in appropriations over the weekend.
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The disconnect between DC ed reformers and state-level ed reformers always fascinates me.
Scott Walker in Wisconsin has all of a sudden turned into the public school governor.
It’s happening in all the Great Lakes states. The same ed reform chorus members who gutted our schools between 2010 and 2018 have done a complete 180 and are now public school supporters.
It’s baloney, of course. More slick marketing. But it IS interesting how state-level ed reformers stopped drinking the kool aid and started covering their own behinds on public schools. That’s because they want to keep their jobs.
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Th y will support public schools until the election is over.
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I am glad there are enough honest people on both sides in Congress that stopped DeVos and Trump from steamrolling over public education. I am glad they lost their $250 million “choice” nonsense and a billion for open enrollment. I hope the Title I funds actually go to the poor students that desperately need the help.
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Don’t take for granted that what Congress did will stop DeVos or Trump. These privileged, power-hungry, mentally twisted billionaires that grew up always getting their way, will attempt using other methods to circumvent Congress in an attempt to achieve what they want. Then the courts will rule against them, and then they will try to circumvent the courts too.
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Just another tip bit on devos. When asked about why she has not visited a failing school yet as she noted on 60 minutes, devos responded by saying that she would love to visit those schools “if they let her in”. Gotta love it.
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