Source: Education Week
After months of wrangling, top lawmakers for the education budget struck a deal to fund the U.S. Department of Education for the upcoming fiscal year. It’s not a done deal, because it still needs to pass the House and Senate, and President Donald Trump then has to sign it. Is there any general theme for how various programs and their constituencies made out in the deal? We’ve identified a few of them below. Spending deal winners: Title IV Part A block grant, Title II aid for educator preparation, and 21st Century Community Learning Centers (programs Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos wanted to cut), and Career and Technical Education. Spending deal losers: Lawmakers completely ignored the administration’s signature school choice proposal for next year, a $1 billion “opportunity grants” program to promote choice. The deal also rescinds $600 million that Congress previously appropriated for Pell Grants but which hasn’t been spent yet.