I feel like it is all coming back to me…
Graduating from the University of Florida in March of 1972… by April first…secured my first teaching position ninety miles away from Gainesville, at Browning Pearce Elementary, in Palatka…There were two campuses because of segregation, and now the schools were recently integrated… I was to teach on the second campus taking over the fourth grade where the teacher was moving to Tallahassee…
Our school had been allocated a federally funded grant, providing resources and services by the University of Florida for the many migrant children living in this low economic, potato farming community…
I was so determined to teach to make a difference.. These were exciting times….We had such Hope…
Surplus of teachers; programs and resources were available for children; Integration had been implemented….There were Headstart Programs and Title I schools…
Then a few years later I had the opportunity to teach closer to home, a school twenty miles away… I had the good fortune to be involved in an Early Childhood Preventative Curriculum Program for high-risk children…
We had fewer students, an aide, and a diagnostic, prescriptive curriculum…We were funded for about seven years…
The school was a Title I school which also received additional funds…And because this was a Title I school, I did not have to pay any of my college loans back!!!
And here we are today… Just through a Pandemic and a new President!!!
We have Hope once again!!!… Finally!!!
Budget Proposes Transformational Investments to Expand Access to Affordable Early Childhood and Postsecondary Education, and Prioritize the Physical and Mental Well-Being of Students
MAY 28, 2021
Contact: Press Office, (202) 401-1576, press@ed.gov
Statement by Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona on the President’s Fiscal Year 2022 Budget | U.S. Department of Education
The Biden-Harris Administration today submitted to Congress the President’s budget for fiscal year 2022. As the Administration continues to make progress defeating the pandemic and getting our economy back on track, the budget makes historic investments that will help the country build back better and lay the foundation for shared growth and prosperity for decades to come.
“This proposal reflects the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to ensuring that student success remains at the heart of the Department of Education’s work. It calls on Congress to prioritize the physical and mental health of students and close education equity gaps, especially in underserved communities,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “We need to focus on not only recovering from the pandemic but also look towards our students’ education after the pandemic to ensure there are improved resources to build our education system back better than before. This budget ensures all students have access to high-quality, affordable postsecondary education, while also improving career pathways for students of all ages and levels.”
The budget includes the two historic plans the President has already put forward — the American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan – and reinvests in education, research, public health, and other foundations of our country’s strength. At the Department of Education (ED), the budget would:
Add at Least Four Years of Free Education. The American Families Plan will make transformational investments from early childhood to postsecondary education so that all children and young people are able to grow, learn, and gain the skills they need to succeed.
It will provide universal, high-quality preschool to all three- and four-year-olds, led by a well-trained and well-compensated workforce.
It will provide two years of free community college and invest in making college more affordable for low- and middle-income students, including students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and minority-serving institutions (MSIs) such as Hispanic-serving institutions and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institutions.
And, it will invest in our teachers as well as our students, improving teacher training and support so that our schools become engines of growth at every level.
Make Historic Investments in High Poverty Schools. Addressing entrenched disparities in education is both a moral and economic imperative. The budget proposes a historic $36.5 billion investment in grants for Title I schools, a $20 billion increase from the 2021 enacted level. This investment would provide historically under-resourced schools with the funding needed to deliver a high-quality education to all of their students, as well as meaningful incentives for states to examine and address inequities in school funding systems. These additional funds will advance the President’s commitment to ensure teachers at Title I schools are paid competitively, provide equitable access to rigorous coursework, and increase access to high-quality preschool.
Prioritize the Physical and Mental Well-Being of Students. Recognizing the profound effect of physical and mental health on academic achievement, the budget provides $1 billion, in addition to the resources in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, to increase the number of counselors, school psychologists, nurses, and social workers in schools.
In addition, it provides $443 million for Full Service Community Schools, which play a critical role in providing comprehensive wrap-around services to students and their families, from afterschool, to adult education opportunities, and health and nutrition services.
Boost Support for Children with Disabilities. The budget includes $16 billion, a historic increase of $2.7 billion over 2021 enacted, for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to support special education and related services for more than 7.6 million Pre-K through 12 students. This is a significant first step toward fully funding IDEA and supports providing a high-quality education to children with disabilities.
The budget also provides $732 million for early intervention services for infants and toddlers with disabilities, funding services that have a proven record of improving academic and developmental outcomes. The $250 million increase would be paired with reforms to expand access to these services for underserved children, including children of color and children from low-income families.
Enacting the budget policies into law this year would strengthen our nation’s economy and lay the foundation for shared prosperity, while also improving our nation’s long-term fiscal health.
For more information on the President’s FY 2022 budget, please visit: https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/.
