The Omnibus Bill: Spending Levels for Key Programs

Late last week, Congress passed an omnibus appropriations bill. The bill has  ramifications for education. While most major programs saw gains or just small cuts to their funding, the bill made major cuts to Race to the Top.

Major highlights of the FY12 Omnibus Appropriations bill include:

• Title I Grants to LEAs saw a funding increase of $73.5 million. This was a major relief to LEAs, who were concerned about cuts

• Discretionary Pell Grants were cut, but not by nearly as much as proponents feared. The Omnibus Bill appropriated $2.2 Billon more to Pell Grants than did the draft House Bill

• The Omnibus Bill actually increased funding for IDEA grants to LEAs. This was despite fears that the bill would cut its funding.

• Teacher Quality State Grants maintained roughly level funding under the Omnibus Bill. It went from $2.464 Billion to $2.466 Billion

• Race to the Top was one of the biggest losers. The Omnibus Bill cut it by 21.5%. While it was not zeroed out, as the House Bill proposed, this was still a substantial cut

• Other big losers included:

  • Mathematics and Science Partnerships, which lost about 15% of its funding

  • Teacher Incentive Fund Grants, which lost about 25% of its funding

  • Teaching American History, which was zeroed out

  • Safe and Drug Free Schools, which was cut nearly in half

• Promise Neighborhoods was one of the few small programs to see a sizeable funding increase. The Omnibus Bill nearly doubled its funding

The Committee on Education Funding has released an invaluable table, showing the line-item amounts in the omnibus funding bill for FY 2012. That table can be found at the link below: