Washington — Moving to make education one of the defining domestic issues of his administration, President Bush on Saturday called for $1 billion increases in federal funding for programs serving disabled and disadvantaged students.
If approved by Congress, the increases would allow the Bush White House to claim to be among the most committed administrations in recent history to expanding key areas of federal education spending.
Bush used his weekly radio address to call for $1 billion funding increases in two prominent programs. The first, known as Title 1, gives school districts money intended to help low-income students and is the largest federal education program. The second, known as IDEA, requires schools to accommodate students with disabilities.
Noting Monday's federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr., Bush called persistent gaps in student achievement "the great civil rights issue of our time."
"Americans can proudly say that we have overcome the institutionalized bigotry that Dr. King fought," Bush said. "Now our challenge is to make sure that every child has a fair chance to succeed in life."
The announcement came less than two weeks after Bush signed a landmark education reform bill that requires states to impose new performance standards on students and teachers. That bill is one of the few truly bipartisan legislative achievements of his presidency.
Democrats welcomed Bush's proposal, but noted that the president has not specified how much money other important education programs will get. They said even this latest plan falls short of certain federal funding obligations.
"Democrats on Capitol Hill are still going to complain that it doesn't fully fund the promises made in the education bill that was just signed into law," said Jim Manley, a spokesman for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., chairman of the Senate Education Committee.
The plan also might prompt some sniping from conservatives, who question the track record of the programs into which Bush proposes pouring billions of dollars.
But in calling for such substantial increases, Bush is affirming his commitment to education.
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