Cuts in Federal Early
Childhood Education (ECE) Programs
NAEYC, December 2004
Congress has determined the spending levels for discretionary programs for
fiscal year 2005. Early childhood and education programs did not fare very
well. Tight spending caps meant making real cuts in several programs, and
much smaller increases in other programs, compared to what was in the
President's request, or the House and Senate committee bills. Child care
assistance now is below last year's funding levels, Head Start had only a
one percent increase, and after-school programs suffered a cut. While
Title I of No Child Left Behind increased overall, the basic grants to
local educational agencies were cut, as was Even Start, and special
education and related services for infants, toddlers, and preschool age
children with disabilities.
The numbers in this update reflect the spending levels after taking the
cut across the board into account. A reminder: the Congress needs to come
back to finalize the omnibus appropriations bill next week in order to
deal with IRS tax returns language that will be deleted from the bill. The
Continuing Resolution, which keeps the government open and funds flowing
to programs, ends on December 8.
Cuts and increases are based on comparisons with fiscal year 2004 levels.
Cuts (rounded numbers): CCDBG -- $5 million cut
Title I basic grants to school districts -- $102 million cut
Even Start -- $21.8 million cut
Early Childhood Educator Professional Development -- $118,500 cut
21st Century Community Learning Centers -- $8 million cut
IDEA Part C infants/toddlers -- $3.55 million cut
IDEA Preschool -- $3.1 million cut
CCAMPIS -- $128,792 cut
Increases (rounded numbers): Head Start -- $67 million increase
Reading First - $17.7 million increase
Early Reading First -- $9.7 million increase
IDEA Part B -- $521.6 million increase
Early Learning Opportunities Act - $2.1 million increase
Title I targeted grants -- $250 million increase
To be on the list to receive all NAEYC Policy Alerts, go to
www.naeyc.org.
