Washington, D.C. - President Bush’s budget for fiscal year 2007 includes major cuts to funding for education from kindergarten through high school in California, according to a new analysis from House Democrats. Representative Rep. Berman said that Congress should reject the Bush cuts to education and put the interests of America’s children first. 
 
“Once again, the Bush administration is cutting educational funding for American children,” said Rep. Rep. Berman. “The administration pays lip service to strengthening education and keeping the American economy competitive, but its promises are empty on American education. We need a budget that reflects our priorities and the needs of our children and families.”
 
In California, the Bush budget would cut school improvement programs by $455.2 million; special education programs by $574.5 million; and important vocational education programs by $915 million, all over the next five years. (http://www.house.gov/berman/newsroom/bush_cal_education_cuts.pdf.)
 
Nationwide over the next five years, the Bush budget cuts $4 billion from school improvement programs intended to boost teacher quality, improve school assessments, and support the use of technology in the classroom by teachers and students, among other things. In fact, the budget completely eliminates $1.4 billion in funding for technology in the classroom. The cuts also include slashes of $5.5 billion for schools for the education of special education students and $7.8 billion for vocational education programs that prepare high school and community college students for high-skill, high-demand careers. The cuts would seriously undermine the ability of the nation’s public schools to provide a high-quality education for all American children.
 
The budget would also harm efforts to improve school safety, slashing $1.7 billion for fighting school violence and drug abuse. It also cuts $495 million for family literacy programs that include basic education and adult literacy services for parents without a high school diploma or GED and early childhood education for their children