Obama Doubles Down: The 2013 Education Budget

Try, try again. The Obama administration’s 2013 education budget outlines the spending priorities of the President with an emphasis on funding programs currently underway.

Overall, the President proposes a 2.5 percent increase in the education budget, raising the ante to $69.8 billion. Race to the Top will continue to be showcased; the President is requesting another $1 billion to create a Race to the Top competition for higher education.

The budget also includes $14 billion for one-time “strategic investments” to support programs that meet labor needs, improve teacher quality and make college more affordable.

All these are laudable goals, but will this suite of programs really lead to the educational improvements we need if we are to bring our 19^th century school system into the 21^st century? The budget includes only $150 million for the Investing in Innovation fund. 

We are in desperate need of fresh ideas so we can stop reforming again, again and again. The assumption that we can tinker with a badly broken system and create the schools and colleges of tomorrow should be revisited --- soon.

Doubling down on conventional solutions to the extraordinary challenges we face is likely to result in more of the same and more time lost.