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Obama Stimulus Package Would Affect Student Aid, Campus Infrastructure

By Jeffrey Thomas  

At President Obama's urging, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an $819 billion economic stimulus bill January 28 that provides significant new sums of money for education.

While the full Senate must also vote on the legislation, known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Senate Appropriations Committee has approved education provisions similar to the House version, and Obama has expressed optimism the full package will be sent to him for signature before Congress begins its mid-February recess.

The 647-page House bill would increase student aid and loans, provide tax credits for higher education, allocate billions for the repair and renovation of campus and research facilities and dramatically increase funding for research through such agencies as the Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.

No Republican voted for the measure, which passed 244 to 188, with 11 Democrats voting against. Republicans have voiced objections to the inclusion of education spending in the stimulus bill on the grounds that such bills normally are limited to projects such as roads and bridges and that education spending takes effect too slowly to have an impact on a recession. Nonpartisan observers generally expect almost all the money directed at education to survive in whatever final package emerges from the legislative process.

In his inaugural address January 20, Obama called on Americans to "begin again the work of remaking America."

His administration will act "not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth." In addition to building new roads, bridges, electric grids and digital lines, Obama promised, "we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age."

In his weekly address January 24, the president elaborated on his commitment to funding education. "To ensure our children can compete and succeed in this new economy, we'll renovate and modernize 10,000 schools, building state-of-the-art classrooms, libraries and labs to improve learning for over 5 million students. We'll invest more in Pell grants to make college affordable for 7 million more students, provide a $2,500 college tax credit to 4 million students, and triple the number of fellowships in science to help spur the next generation of innovation," he said.

Almost 5.6 million students received Pell grants in 2008, totaling $16.4 billion, according to the U.S. Department of Education. These federal grants - named after former U.S. Senator Claiborne Pell, who authored the original legislation in the 1960s - help students from low-income families attend college and do not have to be repaid the way loans do.

Educators have applauded the inclusion of money for education in the stimulus package. Molly Corbett Broad, president of the American Council on Education, said the proposal "masterfully combines short-term economic stimulus with long-term investment in our nation's human capital, research capacity and physical infrastructure."

The increase in the maximum Pell grant and increased funding for research facilities "will enhance innovation capacity and go a long way to training the work force America needs to recover from this current economic downturn," Broad said.

Anne L. Bryant, executive director of the National School Boards Association, also applauded the House proposal. "We are greatly encouraged by the proposed investment and relief amounts included in the stimulus outline released today," Bryant said. "The proposed legislation would provide timely resources to help restore the federal investment in education as the economic engine for long-term recovery, sustainability and global competitiveness."

Commentators have put different dollar figures on the portion of the $819 billion bill aimed at education, with press accounts typically putting the sum in the $120 billion range when items such as $6 billion for broadband deployment are not counted. But educators, familiar with the disadvantage students living in rural areas have in online courses when they lack fast Internet access, see broadband deployment as important for education. Educators also see the more than $80 billion in federal Medicaid help as not only providing relief on the health front, but also reducing competition for limited state dollars between Medicaid and education.

When these items are included, almost $200 billion of the House bill has to do with education, according to Dan Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators (AASA). Domenech outlined in a January 16 letter to AASA members the main features related to education, including grants for disadvantaged students, special education, education for homeless children, teacher quality, infrastructure repair and modernization, education technology, and emergency stabilization funding for districts facing severe operational challenges because of the recession.

The proposal also includes $200 million for merit pay for teachers - a concept popular with Republicans, supported by Obama, and generally unpopular with teachers' unions.

In addition to the almost $200 billion Domenech discusses in his letter to AASA members, the House is working on the tax portion of the economic recovery package expected to include $22 billion in tax credits for school construction bonds.

But the U.S. Senate also has a say in the final stimulus package. Once the Senate has debated and passed its own version, the House and Senate versions must be reconciled before a final version approved by both chambers can be sent to the president for signature into law.

For more information on President Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan ( http://www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/economy ) and his agenda for education ( http://www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/education ), see the White House Web site.

(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)