New Federal Funding Bill Pours Money into School Safety & Early Education, with Smaller Bumps for Charters & Other Dept Programs
March 21, 2018
By: Carolyn Phenicie
Source: The 74
School safety programs saw big boosts in the latest federal appropriations bill that also proposed increases in early childhood education spending along with smaller bumps for marquee K-12 programs.
The House Appropriations Committee in a press release touted $2.3 billion in increases for school safety, with funds coming through programs at the Education, Justice, and Health and Human Services departments.
Overall, the Education Department would get $70.9 billion under the bill, a $3.9 billion, or 5.5 percent, increase — the largest boost the department has seen in recent years. Charter school programs would receive $58 million, or about 17 percent more, although 2018 Trump administration budget proposals to fund private school vouchers or promote public school choice via Title I funds were nixed.