The budget would increase funding for No Child Left
Behind by 4.6 percent to $24.4 billion, and the President
requested $54.4 billion in discretionary appropriations
for the department overall, a 5.5 percent decrease from
2006.
“This budget request soundly targets resources where
they are needed most and working best,” said Education
secretary Margaret Spellings, who helped craft the No
Child Left Behind program.
However, the department could be facing an uphill battle
continuing to claim progress and counsel patience while
pursuing the NCLB, as its own data — in “the nation’s
report card”– continues to show the reading and math
proficiencies between white and minority test scores in
urban school districts remains about as wide as when the
program was enacted four years ago, showing modest gains
at best in some districts.
