Arne Duncan testifies on Obama's education budget request; distances himself from Common Core
Date Posted: 4/09/2014
Education Secretary Arne Duncan testified before the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor-HHS-Education on April 8 to discuss President Barack Obama's proposed education budget. In another bipartisan effort, representatives from both parties criticized the department's move to increase competitive grant opportunities while decreasing access to more traditional formula grant funds. According to ranking member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), under the requested budget, the Department of Education would increase competitive grants by 6.9 percent while cutting formula grants by 4.9 percent. Members of the committee were particularly concerned about the effect this move would have on important formula grants like Title I, IDEA (the federal law governing the education of disabled students), and Impact Aid (federal money that is designed to help school districts that suffer due to the presence of tax-exempt federal properties). Secretary Duncan did acknowledge that the proposed budget favors competitive grants more so than in past years, but emphasized that 89 percent of the proposal is dedicated to formula grant funding. The secretary also made news for his comments at the hearing on Common Core. In what many are considering a change in his messaging, Secretary Duncan distanced himself from Common Core saying that he is a proponent of high standards but that does not necessarily require the adoption of Common Core. His comments followed Republican questioning on the moves the department has made to tie the adoption of the Common Core standards to Race to the Top, a competitive grant program overseen by the Department. Read Secretary Duncan's full testimony or watch the archived hearing.
CONVERSATION
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
05/03/2024
Teach the Vote’s Week in Review: May 3, 2024
School board and bond elections are tomorrow, runoffs are just around the corner, and vouchers are (still) unpopular among the majority of Texas voters.
05/03/2024
TRS Board discusses Medicare Advantage premiums, sets TRS-ActiveCare employer plan rates
A vote to lower TRS Medicare Advantage premiums is expected in July. Also, nominations are open for at-large and retired board positions.
04/30/2024
May the Fourth Be with You at the Polling Place
We know you just voted in the primary, but it’s time to vote again—and maybe one more time after that, depending on where you live.