Raleigh —- U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-Lillington), a member of the House Budget Committee, questioned the Bush Administration on proposed cuts to N.C. education funding in the President’s budget request for Fiscal Year 2009.
The President’s budget proposal would eliminate funding for 47 education initiatives and reduce funding for several others.
During a hearing of the House Budget Committee, Etheridge asked Office of Management and Budget Director Jim Nussle to explain why the Administration is proposing to eliminate federal funding for N.C. education initiatives. Etheridge asked specifically about the Civics Education grant initiative which North Carolina has used to institute a character education effort in schools. The President would eliminate all funding for the grant initiative in his budget.
“Character education works because it teaches children right from wrong, helps them to view the world through a moral lens and prepares them to grow into solid citizens,” said Etheridge. “A nation that fails to make adequate investment in education is like a farmer who eats his seed corn; neither one is going to have much of a future.”
The budget proposal would also eliminate Career and Technical Education grants, which fund vocational education efforts, costing North Carolina $35.3 million in Fiscal Year 2009. The 21st Century Learning Program, which funds after-school programs, would also lose funding, resulting in $4.6 million in lost funds and 12,392 less children receiving after-school care in the state.
Nussle responded to Etheridge’s concerns by asking if the federal funding the budget aims to eliminate is working to improve education. “It is in North Carolina,” declared Etheridge.
Under the Administration’s budget proposal, in 2009 the government will spend more than four times as much on the interest on the national debt as it does on education. The budget proposal predicts a total of $260 billion in debt payments in 2009 and only proposes spending $60 billion on education.
While eliminating funding for dozens of proven education initiatives, the President’s budget proposal would add $300 million for a new voucher program called “Pell Grants for Kids.” Etheridge has called the program “dead on arrival.”