Schools lose in Senate stimulus 'compromise'

Despite $1 billion in ed-tech funding and increases in college Pell Grants, education took a major hit when the U.S. Senate cut all $20 billion in proposed funding for school modernization from its version of the economic stimulus bill, which passed in that chamber on Feb. 10. The $20 billion appeared, and passed, in the House's version of the bill late last month. What once had reached a $937 billion figure was whittled down to $838 billion in the final Senate version of the bill as a result of negotiations by moderate Republican and Democratic senators. Many of the reductions came from proposed education spending, although education advocacy groups say schools and colleges still would get a huge boost in funding. The $80 billion in the Senate bill is $21 billion more than the Department of Education's FY2008 discretionary budget of $59 billion. Educational technology is slated to receive $1 billion, unchanged from the original Senate proposal--a number that ed-tech advocacy groups say is encouraging, though they'd like to see the school modernization funding restored in the final version of the bill. The Senate's Feb. 10 vote sends the bill to a conference committee, setting up a final showdown among lawmakers as they work to find common ground on the stimulus package.