Here is a message I am passing along from Andy Carvin’s WWWEDU list
For those of us working on PT3 grants (or probably other grants identified on this list), the final statement from Secretary Rod Paige is frustrating. More on this topic if I can figure out what prompts this claim.
BUSH 2004 BUDGET CALLS FOR $144.5 MILLION IN CUTS FOR ED TECH
President Bush’s proposed 2004 budget calls for a $2.4 billion increase for the US Department of Education, but the increase is paired with cuts in technology-related programming totaling almost $145 million. Programs slated for cuts include Community Technology Centers ($32.5 million), Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to Use Technology, or PT3($62.5 million), Ready to Teach ($12 million), Regional Technology in Education Consortia ($10 million), and Star Schools ($27.5 million) – all programs that Bush proposed cutting in FY 2003. “In these times of tight budgets and accountability, we can no longer continue to fund programs that simply are not helping students achieve,” argued Education Secretary Rod Paige.
[SOURCE: eSchool News](http://www.eschoolnews.com/) Note – you can ask for a free subscription if you are denied access.
OK – here seems to a key concept of the present administration – Paige claims “increased funding doesn’t seem to be the way to improve student achievement – but reform, flexibility, and local control. ” Translated — you spend money on what you feel needs to be addressed. So – this turns out not to be about an empirical approach as previous statements might lead you to believe (unless you are willing to accept the logic that “the way money was spent before has not achieved the desired consequences”). This is about a political position – local decision making is best.
