News from the Field

• A Grilling for Spellings (Inside Higher Ed - March 2, 2006 ) Members of a U.S. Senate appropriations subcommittee took full advantage Wednesday of their first formal opportunity to respond to the Bush administration’s proposed 2007 budget, peppering Education Secretary Margaret Spellings with probing questions.
  
  
• Proposed Cuts Alarm MSU-B (The Billings Outpost (MT) - March 2, 2006) Concern has been raised again on campuses through the country to President George W. Bush’s proposed budget that calls for the elimination of longstanding educational programs for low-income, first-generation students seeking post-secondary educational opportunities: Upward Bound, Educational Talent Search, Gear Up and Veterans’ Upward Bound are scheduled to be eliminated.
  
  
• Weldon Students GEAR UP for College (Daily Harold (NC) - March 2, 2006) The close, fast-paced game between students and teachers was just the one of the events on the program during the school's GEAR UP kick-off Tuesday evening. The GEAR UP is a program designed to prepare students for college, and the close game was part of the district's efforts to motivate students to achieve.
  
  
• N.J. Primed to Buck Trend of Falling Education Levels (The Philadelphia Inquirer (PA) - February 28, 2006) Our prosperity depends on our ability to compete in a global, knowledge-based economy that requires workers to have high levels of education.  Yet if current trends continue, the proportion of American workers with high school diplomas and college degrees will decrease in the next 15 years, a recent report warned.
  
  
• Raising Education Level of all Income Groups Essential to Compete (Asbury Park Press (NJ) - February 28, 2006) New Jersey and the nation are at an educational and economic crossroad. Our future economic prosperity depends on our ability to compete in a global, knowledge-based economy that requires most workers to have higher levels of education. Yet if current trends continue, the proportion of American workers with high school diplomas and college degrees will decrease over the next 15 years.
  
  
• Bush Ax May Come Down on Gear Up (The Oregonian (OR) - February 22, 2006) Vinnie Spillman had heard the message before: Get serious about school. But he never listened. Then he heard it last summer from an adult leader at a school-sponsored camp. This time, for some reason, it sunk in.
  
  
• Senator, Local Rep Drop in at High School (The Monitor (TX) - February 18, 2006) The U.S. Congress could have some of its most passionate debates this year about education and how to save various programs President Bush wants to see cut from the 2006-07 fiscal year budget, New Jersey's first Hispanic senator told a group of Economedes High School students Friday.
  
  
• Bush Budget Proposes Slashing Student Aid (The Chronicle of Higher Education - February 17, 2006 (Sub. Required))
  
  
• College Prep Programs Might Get Left Behind (San Antonio Express-News (TX) - February 17, 2006) Education cuts proposed by President Bush could eliminate millions of dollars for three programs local educators are using to push more low-income students into college.
  
  
• Education Conference Focuses on College Access, Completion (Asheville Citizen-Times (NC) - February 17, 2006) To a room crowded with about 350 teachers and education advocates, a statewide school leader delivered a direct message Thursday: Tell students you love them.
  
  
• Not Much Help for Needy Students in Proposed Budget for 2007 (The Chronicle of Higher Education - February 17, 2006 (Sub. Required))
  
  
• San Francisco College Admissions Program in Jeopardy High school Grants Face Elimination in Federal Budget (The San Francisco Chronicle (CA) - February 16, 2006) Eight students at San Francisco's Balboa High sat around tables inside the school's College Room on a recent afternoon, all of them realizing over the course of an hourlong lecture just how much they have to learn about the world of college admissions.
  
  
• Students Gear Up for Career Ideas (The Miami Herald (FL) - February 16, 2006) Several 12th-grade Students from Miami Central High School had an opportunity to spend a day visiting Dolphins Stadium in Miami Gardens as part of the GEAR UP EXPRESS series of Career Day field trips.
  
  
• Bush’s Budget will Ax College Prep Program (The Monitor (TX) - February 15, 2006) A nationwide program encouraging middle and high school students to go to college has been targeted for elimination in President Bush’s version of the 2006-07 fiscal year budget.
  
  
• An Education Report: Editorial by Congressman Tom Cole (AmericanChronicle.com - February 14, 2006) Amidst the challenges and national priorities our country is juggling right now, one that won't be pushed aside is education. Education is a long term investment in the future of our state and our nation. It is something we should not take for granted.
  
  
• Oregon Governor Calls on Congress To Reject Cuts To Critical Programs (MedfordNews.com (OR) - February 13, 2006) Governor Ted Kulongoski previewed effects of federal budget cuts Wednesday, some already enacted and others proposed, on education, health care, and public safety, and pledged to spearhead a unified effort by state government to persuade Congress to eliminate or minimize the cuts.
  
  
• Proposal Cuts Education Budget (Wausau Daily Herald (WI) - February 12, 2006) Many college students in the central Wisconsin area will see less federal help this fall if President Bush's proposed $2.77 trillion 2007 budget is approved in its present form. The $54.4 billion Education Department budget, down $3.5 billion from last year, calls for cutting 42 programs, many of which are targeted toward low- and middle-income students and families.
  
  
• Battle Looms over Cuts in Federal Programs (National Public Radio, All Things Considered - February 11, 2006) President Bush's proposed budget includes funding cuts or complete elimination for 141 programs. Now Congress must decide which of programs will be cut from the federal budget. There are differences of opinion over whether the targeted programs are delivering results.
  
  
• Gear Up Program Helps High Schoolers Prepare for College (Kingsport Times-News (TN) - February 11, 2006) David Crockett High School students with an eye toward the future now have a bit more help when it comes to deciding on that next step to take after graduation. As part of a $2.8 million U.S. Department of Education grant awarded to East Tennessee State University and the Washington County school system, David Crockett students will be able to reap the rewards of Gear Up - a multi-year project that works with students from sixth grade to graduation to help them raise their educational expectations and set higher goals.
  
  
• Bush’s Flawed Initiative: Education Gap (The New Republic (Online) - February 10, 2006) Given his goldbrick biography and decidedly unintellectual demeanor, one gets the impression that as a teenager George W. Bush did not look too kindly on members of the Andover math and science clubs. Last Friday, though, Bush praised students who excel in those subjects--the "nerd patrol," as he conceded they are sometimes known. "This competitive world is going to demand a job skill set that emphasizes math and science," he said. "And if our kids don't have the talents necessary to compete, those jobs won't go away, they'll just go to another country."...
  
  
• Utah Pupils 3rd in U.S. in Earning AP Credit (Deseret Morning News (UT) - February 8, 2006) Given his goldbrick biography and decidedly unintellectual demeanor, one gets the impression that as a teenager George W. Bush did not look too kindly on members of the Andover math and science clubs. Last Friday, though, Bush praised students who excel in those subjects--the "nerd patrol," as he conceded they are sometimes known. "This competitive world is going to demand a job skill set that emphasizes math and science," he said. "And if our kids don't have the talents necessary to compete, those jobs won't go away, they'll just go to another country."...
  
  
• On the Chopping Block Again (Inside Higher ED - February 7, 2006) When high school graduation season came around last year, Lucy Jones noticed that every single senior in the Upward Bound program run by Rich Mountain Community College not only graduated, but had been accepted by a college.
  
  
• Chafee Urges Caution on Bush Budget (The Boston Globe (MA) - February 7, 2006) Sen. Lincoln Chafee says he wants to make sure important health care and education programs for the poor are not hurt by President Bush's $2.7 trillion spending plan.
  
  
• Conaway, Cornyn, Democrats React to Bush's Budget (MyWestTexas.com (TX) - February 7, 2006) President Bush's proposed 2006-07 budget Tuesday touched off the usual Washington capaphony of hosannas, excoriations and everything in between.
  
  
• Congressmen say Bush Budget Bad for Valley (The Brownsville Herald (TX) - February 7, 2006) President Bush’s budget proposal will cut deep in South Texas health, housing, education and security programs, Rio Grande Valley Congressmen said Monday.
  
  
• Valley Legislators Lambaste Bush Budget (The Monitor (TX) - February 7, 2006) President Bush's budget proposal will cut deep into South Texas health, housing, education and security programs, Rio Grande Valley congressmen said Monday.
  
  
• President’s Budget Cuts Education at All Levels, Showing His ‘Competitiveness’ Rhetoric to Be Empty: Editorial by Congressman George Miller (CaliforniaChronicle.com - February 6, 2006) For the second year in a row, President Bush's budget cuts overall funding for education - from early childhood education through college - despite the President's focus on education and economic competitiveness in campaign-style appearances around the country last week. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, said the cuts would undermine America's ability to retain its economic leadership in the world.