High School Reform Plan May Cripple College Programs
Bush plan would cut technical and vocational programs to fund high school initiative
By Charles Dervarics
The Bush administration is drawing the ire of leaders across the higher education spectrum by promoting a proposal that funds a new high school improvement initiative at the expense of an existing program used by many postsecondary institutions.
The White House plans for the $1.5 billion High School Reform Initiative would hinge largely on termination of the Carl D. Perkins Act, a long-time federal law that funds career and technical education. But with postsecondary institutions receiving about 40 percent of Perkins dollars, the move, if approved, would shortchange colleges to fund secondary school programs.
As part of the High School Reform Initiative, schools would have to conduct more annual testing of students and extend provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act to the high school level.
The budget plan is “very disappointing,” says Katherine M. Oliver, president of the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium. “At a time when the country’s economy demands a well-trained work force, and when the added emphasis on academic performance requires an applied context, a significant reduction in funding just doesn’t make sense.”
The largest Perkins Act program, funded at $1.2 billion, comes as grants to each state. The states can set their own formulas to allocate funds for secondary and postsecondary technical education programs. In arguing for termination, the U.S. Department of Education says the state grant program is “ineffective because the program has produced little or no evidence of improved outcomes for students despite decades of federal investment.”
While K-12 schools could get re-allocated funds under the Bush proposal, postsecondary education would lose all Perkins funding. This is “one of our biggest concerns,” says Alisha Hyslop, assistant director of public policy at the Association for Career and Technical Education.
“While secondary programs are a big component, a substantial chunk of funding goes to postsecondary institutions,” she says.
