Advocate Online

From Capitol to Campus

President Bush has so far made two significant education speeches. The first, at a high school, talked of block-granting numerous programs to create a source of funds for high school reform.

The biggest program to be considered for this plan is the Perkins career and technical education funding, a critical source of funds for both high schools and community colleges. Such an effort would seemingly cut off community colleges from access to Perkins funding, but the details have not yet been made public.

In his second address, at Florida Community College in Jacksonville, the President announced his support for the first increase in the maximum amount of Pell Grant awards in three years. His budget will suggest a $100 increase in the Pell Grant award for the coming fiscal year, to be followed by four more years of $100 increases to raise the maximum award to $4,550 in five years.

Under the plan, budgeting for Pell Grants would operate for the next five years the same way budgeting does entitlement programs, such as student loans or Medicare. The grant program would automatically receive however much it spends each year, and scheduled increases in the maximum award would take effect automatically.

The President also pledged support for eliminating the nearly $4 billion Pell grant program deficit that has been growing steadily and threatening the viability of the program.