Advocates for Secondary School Students See Progress in President's New Education Program

The Alliance for Excellent Education, whose mission is to enable the nation's six million at-risk middle and high school students to achieve high standards and prepare for success in post-secondary education and in life, highlighted President Bush's recognition of the needs of low-performing high school students during his recent State of the Union Address. Last month, 30 organizations and 170 individuals sent a letter to the president, urging him to "increase dramatically the federal education investment in (his) FY2005 budget proposal to a level sufficient to address the needs of eight million students currently reading below basic levels in grades four through 12."

The president announced his new education initiative, entitled "Jobs for the 21st Century," which aims to "better prepare workers for jobs in the new millennium by strengthening secondary education and job training and improving high school education." The plan also boosts funding for literacy and math improvement programs already authorized by the "No Child Left Behind" Act.

Although AEE points out that the president's $500 million proposal falls short of the estimated $14 billion needed to do the job, it credits the president with turning a "national spotlight on America's middle and high schools."

Prepared January 28, 2004