The Savvy Technologist

Congress slices ed tech grants

The bad news came today via email from our state Deptartment of Education. The 2005 Omnibus Appropriations Bill approved by the House and Senate over the weekend includes large cuts in educational technology funding. The biggest cut comes to the State Education Technology Block Grant (Title II Part D) which will be cut from $692 million last year to $500 million this year, a 28% decrease in funding. Those Title II funds provide resources for professional development and technology integration to nearly every school district in the country. Our district is luckier than most; the cuts will probably amount to less than $10,000 next year. There are other schools that depend on those funds for a much larger portion of their annual technology integration and training budgets.

The Community Technology Centers program suffered a major cut as well, while the Title V (Promoting Informed Parental Choice and Innovative Programs), 21st Century Community Learning Centers, Star Schools, Part D of IDEA, Ready to Learn and Ready to Learn programs all survived unscathed.