[Budget of the United States Government]
[III. Creating a Better Government]
[11. Education, Training, Employment, and Social Services]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
11. EDUCATION, TRAINING, EMPLOYMENT, AND SOCIAL SERVICES
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Table 11-1. Federal Resources in Support of Education, Training, Employment, and Social Services
(In millions of dollars)
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Estimate
Function 500 2000 -----------------------------------------------------------
Actual 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
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Spending:
Discretionary Budget Authority.......... 44,378 61,146 65,424 67,060 69,049 70,661 72,273
Mandatory Outlays:
Existing law.......................... 10,266 9,145 14,304 14,522 14,757 15,315 16,183
Proposed legislation.................. ........ ........ 90 315 387 393 398
Credit Activity:
Direct loan disbursements............... 16,425 19,061 16,579 17,460 18,395 19,387 20,442
Guaranteed loans........................ 26,602 29,501 30,742 32,421 34,228 36,153 38,202
Tax Expenditures:
Existing law............................ 36,030 37,780 38,770 40,410 43,210 45,010 47,500
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Elementary and Secondary Education
The President's education reform plan is devoted to two fundamental
principles: that all children can learn, and that no child should be
left behind. Our K-12 education system needs to do more to live up to
its potential to prepare all our students for productive lives in the
21st Century. The academic achievement gap between rich and poor and
Anglo and minority is large and, in some cases, growing larger. Nearly
70 percent of fourth-grade students in our highest-poverty schools
cannot read at a basic level. And our high school seniors trail students
in most industrialized countries on international math tests. This
Administration is committed to improving the academic performance of
America's youth.
The President's agenda measures how well we are educating our
children, not in dollars or numbers of programs, but in results. The
budget reflects a bold and ambitious plan for reauthorizing the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) that places accountability
for improved achievement at the center of K-12 reforms. It lays the
foundation for learning by ensuring that every child can read by the
third grade. It streamlines dozens of overlapping programs into five
performance-based funding streams that allow States the flexibility to
address their unique needs. And it empowers parents with more choices in
the education of their children.
Accountability for Results: The President's plan would grant States
and school districts unprecedented freedom from rules and regulations--
in exchange for accountability for results. States will establish
accountability systems built on high standards, annual tests, measurable
goals, rewards for success, and sanctions for failure. They will be
required to test students every year in grades 3-8 in math and reading
so that parents, teachers, and communities will know if their schools
and students are meeting State academic standards. The budget provides
$320 million to support the costs of developing new assessments. Once
accountability systems are in place, a new Federal fund will reward
States and schools that improve student achievement. The budget also
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provides $109 million, a $69 million increase, to expand the National
Assessment of Educational Progress to administer tests in reading and
math in 4th and 8th grade every year. These tests, sometimes called the
Nation's report card, will provide additional information on whether
States are on track toward success.
Part of the Administration's ESEA reauthorization strategy for
improving accountability will be the implementation of performance-based
grants. Once ESEA is passed this year, States will set performance
targets for the major ESEA programs and strategies for meeting them. In
future years, the Department of Education will revise and refine its own
performance goals based on State targets and plans.
Title I--Closing the Achievement Gap for Disadvantaged Students: While
the Federal Government is the junior partner to States and local
governments in providing education to our children, it has a special
obligation to our most disadvantaged students, in particular those who
are low income or with limited English proficiency. The Title I Grants
to Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) program enables high-poverty
schools to provide extra educational assistance to help their students
to catch up with their peers. The Administration seeks $9.061 billion,
an increase of $459 million or 5.3 percent, to help students most at-
risk of not reaching State standards improve their academic achievement.
The President's plan would require States to set measurable performance
targets to ensure that all groups of disadvantaged students improve, and
would hold States, districts, and schools accountable for meeting those
goals. Schools that fail to meet performance targets will receive help
to turn themselves around. The Administration seeks $400 million within
Title I Grants to LEAs for low-performing schools, a $175 million, or
78-percent, increase over 2001. States will use these funds to provide
technical assistance and intensive interventions to improve achievement
in schools that are failing to make sufficient academic gains. To ensure
that no student is trapped in a chronically failing school, students in
schools that are consistently low-performing will have the option of
transferring to a better public school, or of using their share of
Federal Title I funds to seek supplemental educational services or
private school alternatives. This combination of accountability for
improved achievement among all groups of students, extra help for
struggling schools, and the unacceptability of chronic failure, provides
powerful incentives for all Title I schools to use their funds on
effective, proven practices in order to achieve results.
The Administration's goal is to ensure that the performance
of our lowest-achieving students and students in high-poverty
schools will increase substantially in reading and
mathematics.
Reading First: The budget builds a foundation for success by investing
$900 million in the Reading First initiative to help all children read
by the third grade. This new program will provide funds to States that
establish comprehensive reading programs in kindergarten through third
grade. States would be required to implement scientifically proven
reading programs, train K-3 teachers in proven teaching practices,
implement effective reading interventions for students who are falling
behind, and use a reading diagnostic test in K-3 to identify students
early who have reading difficulties. Ensuring that children receive
effective reading instruction means that more children will get the help
they need before they fall too far behind, and will result in fewer
referrals to special education in later years. The budget also includes
an additional $75 million for the Early Reading First initiative that
helps implement research-based reading practices in existing pre-school
and Head Start programs that feed into participating elementary schools.
This program will help ensure that children enter school ready to learn
to read.
These two programs will help the Nation make significant
progress toward the goal of ensuring that all students can
read by the third grade.
Improving Teacher Quality: Improvements in student achievement begin
with an effective teacher in every classroom. Unfortunately, some
schools are not yet meeting this challenge. They are unable to retain
promising new teachers and employ a complete staff of fully qualified
teachers. Currently, 22 percent of all new teachers leave teaching in
their first three years of service. In high-poverty
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secondary schools, 12 percent of teachers only hold a temporary or
emergency certification, and 18 percent teach out of their field of
expertise. The President requests $2.6 billion, an increase of $0.4
billion to prepare, train, and recruit a high-quality teaching force.
States would have the flexibility to invest these funds to address their
most pressing quality improvement needs, whether it be to alleviate
shortages, enhance skills, or reform the certification process. The
President's plan combines the funding from the largest Federal teacher
programs, including the Class Size Reduction program and Eisenhower
Professional Development programs, into a streamlined, performance-based
grant to States and school districts. In addition, the budget provides
$30 million to expand and build on the Troops to Teachers program,
currently adminstered by the Department of Defense, which helps military
professionals become teachers and serve in high-need communities.
An expanded Math and Science Partnership program, administered by the
National Science Foundation in coordination with the Department of
Education, would provide funds to States to join with institutions of
higher education to strengthen K-12 math and science instruction and
curriculum. The Administration requests $200 million for this program
(see Chapter 4, ``General Science, Space, and Technology'').
One performance goal of this program is to help increase the
percentage of teachers with improved knowledge and skills in
core academic subjects.
Moving Limited English Proficient Students to English Fluency: Over
the last two decades, the population of limited English proficient (LEP)
children in the 50 States has grown dramatically, increasing from less
than one million in 1980, to approximately 3.4 million in the 1996-1997
school year. LEP students face unique challenges in achieving to the
same high standards expected of all students--many must face the
difficult task of learning the English language while simultaneously
mastering the content of academic subjects. Unfortunately, many English
language-learners, when compared with their English-fluent peers,
receive lower grades and often score below average on standardized math
and reading assessments. The President's reform plan proposes to
consolidate Bilingual and Immigrant Education funds into a $460 million
formula-driven grant to provide school districts with added flexibility
in exchange for more effective transitioning of LEP and immigrant
students into English fluency and for improving their overall
achievement levels. States would be required to establish performance
goals for English language acquisition and develop high-quality annual
assessments to measure English language proficiency. In addition, both
States and school districts will be held accountable for ensuring that
LEP and immigrant students meet State academic achievement goals.
The Administration's goal is to improve significantly the
English proficiency and academic achievement of limited
English proficient and immigrant students.
Indian Education: American Indians have made progress in recent
decades but continue to be disproportionately affected by poverty and
low educational attainment. For example, American Indian students, on
average, score lower on the National Assessment of Educational Progress
and the Scholastic Aptitude Test than other students. To address these
issues, the budget provides $116 million to support formula grants to
local educational agencies and Bureau of Indian Affairs operated schools
to implement programs that address the special educational and cultural
needs of Indian children. In order to address the critical shortage of
trained Indian professionals in schools with high concentrations of
American Indian students, funding for both the American Indian Teacher
Corps and American Indian Administrator Corps initiatives will continue
at the 2001 level.
American Indian and Alaska Native students served by LEAs
receiving Indian Education formula grants will progress at
rates similar to those for all students in achievement to
standards, promotion, and graduation.
Safe and Drug Free Schools: The President's plan for improving school
safety and drug-use prevention emphasizes research-based practices,
includes tougher enforcement of existing gun laws, grants teachers
control over their own classrooms, improves
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cooperation between school districts and law enforcement, and stresses
accountability for results. Under the $644 million Safe and Drug Free
Schools program, districts will be held accountable for the
effectiveness of their crime prevention and drug outreach activities,
and students trapped in persistently dangerous schools will have the
option to transfer to a safe alternative.
21st Century Community Learning Centers: The budget includes $846
million for a more flexible after-school program that allows States to
award Federal funds to school districts, private organizations, and
faith-based entities, thereby empowering local communities to provide a
wider array of choices for students and parents. Expanding access to
high-quality before- and after-school programs is a key strategy in
providing students safe and supervised environments and extending
learning time to improve student achievement. States would conduct grant
competitions to support before and after-school programs that are proven
to be effective and advance statewide academic achievement goals.
This program will be supplemented by two new initiatives in other
agencies. The budget requests $400 million for After-School Certificates
within the Child Care and Development Block Grant in the Department of
Health and Human Services to help low income working parents obtain
quality after school childcare with a strong educational component. The
Corporation for National and Community Service will provide $15 million
for the Veterans Mission for Youth, a new initiative that will provide
matching grants to community organizations that connect veterans and
retired military personnel with America's young people through
mentoring, tutoring, after-school and other programs.
The Choice and Innovation Fund: The most direct form of accountability
is parents' ability to choose the school their children will attend. The
Administration is committed to expanding the educational choices that
parents and students have. Under the new Choice and Innovation fund, the
Administration consolidates 10 programs to create a $472 million fund
that provides States with the flexibility to pursue a range of effective
education reform strategies, including school choice, that address areas
of State and local need. A separate Reform and Innovation fund supports
character education and allows the Secretary to fund projects that
address national priorities in K-12 education.
Educational Technology: The budget supports a streamlined educational
technology fund that consolidates nine overlapping programs into one
flexible $817 million fund. The President believes that technology must
be used to improve learning and that Federal funding for educational
technology must focus on results. This performance-based formula grant
will provide States greater discretion to make educational technology an
effective learning tool, and ensure that more technology funds reach the
classroom.
The Administration is seeking administrative improvements in the E-
rate to ensure that this program provides greater flexibility to schools
and libraries in how they use their E-rate discounts, while reducing the
administrative burden they have faced in applying for educational
technology funds. The Administration also proposes $80 million in
matching grants, through the Department of Housing and Urban
Development's Community Development Block Grant, to support Community
Technology Centers in high poverty areas. (See Chapter 10, ``Community
and Regional Development.'')
Impact Aid and School Construction: The budget proposes $1.130 billion
for the Impact Aid program, a $137 million increase from the 2001
appropriation. The request provides a significant increase for the
Impact Aid construction program to improve the quality of public school
buildings and eliminate the backlog of repairs and construction for
schools on or near military facilities and those serving children from
Native American lands.
Special Education: Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act (IDEA), the Department of Education works with States to ensure that
more than six million children with disabilities receive a ``free
appropriate public education'' that prepares them for employment and
independent living, and that all schools are held accountable for the
educational results of special education children. The President's
education reform plan will require States to report on the educational
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progress of all student groups--including students with disabilities. In
addition, the President's new Reading First initiative will help ensure
that fewer children are referred to special education simply because
they did not receive proper reading instruction in the crucial early
years. The Administration seeks $7.3 billion for IDEA Part B Grants to
States--the primary special education program--a $1 billion increase.
One measure of success in the IDEA program is the increase in the
percentage of students with disabilities who are graduating from high
school with a regular diploma and the reduction in the number who are
dropping out.
In the 1998-1999 school year, 57 percent of students with
disabilities left school by graduating with a regular diploma
and 29 percent dropped out of school. The Administration's
goal for the 2001-2002 school year is that 59 percent of
students with disabilities will graduate with regular diplomas
and that no more than 27 percent will drop out.
Vocational and Adult Education: The President requests significant
resources for the Department of Education's Vocational and Adult
Education programs to help Americans of all ages obtain the training and
education they need to succeed in a rapidly changing economy. Vocational
Education programs, including State grants and Tech-Prep, help States
and communities develop the academic, vocational, and technical skills
of students in high schools and community colleges. Adult Education
State grants and other programs fund State and local activities that
enable adults to become literate and complete high school so that they
can succeed as workers, parents, and citizens. Access to Adult Education
programs is particularly important for recent immigrants and other
limited English proficient adults who wish to learn English and further
their education.
The Administration's goal is to provide students with
increased access to improved vocational and adult education
programs that strengthen educational achievement, workforce
preparation, and lifelong learning.
Postsecondary Education
Pell Grants: Low-income and minority students continue to lag behind
their peers in college enrollment and graduation rates. In 1998, 77
percent of students from high-income families entered college after
completing high school, compared to 46 percent of high school graduates
from low-income families. To help increase access to postsecondary
education for disadvantaged students, the Administration proposes to
increase funding for Pell Grants by $1 billion in the 2002 Budget. This
level would fund a $100 increase in the maximum award for all students,
fill a projected shortfall of over $100 million in the 2001 award year,
and create a small surplus in the program.
At the President's budget level, over four million low- and
middle-income college students would receive Pell Grants in
2002, when the maximum award would be $3,850.
TRIO: The gap in college enrollment rates between low-income students
and other students is due to differences not only in financial resources
but also in academic preparation and support. The President proposes a
$50 million increase for TRIO programs to promote college success for
disadvantaged young people. TRIO programs provide tutoring, college
outreach, and student support services to help low-income, first-
generation college, and disabled individuals achieve academic success
beginning in middle school, throughout high school and college, and into
graduate school.
TRIO projects aim to increase participating students'
persistence in and completion of academic programs. In 1998,
29 percent of participants in the TRIO program Student Support
Services had earned a degree from the college where they began
within six years.
Aid for Institutional Development: The President requests significant
increases to Department of Education programs supporting Historically
Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Historically Black Graduate
Institutions (HBGIs), and Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) as the
first installment of the President's plan to increase funding for these
institutions by 30 percent between 2001 and 2005. HBCUs and HBGIs
receive a combined
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$15 million, seven-percent increase over 2001; the increase for HSIs is
$4 million, or six percent. The budget also includes funding to support
Tribal Colleges and other institutions that serve low-income students
and that have low per-pupil expenditures. This funding would help these
educationally and historically important institutions increase their
capacity to serve low-income and minority college students and will help
ensure equal access to postsecondary education for all Americans. The
performance goals for these programs are:
The percentage of HBCUs, HBGIs, HSIs, and other institutions
serving disadvantaged populations having specialized
accreditation, a measure of academic program quality, will be
maintained or increased. In 1998-1999, 75 percent of HSIs
receiving title V grants and 71 percent of HBCUs, HBGIs, and
other institutions receiving Aid for Institutional Development
grants had at least one specialized accreditation.
The percentage of full-time, degree-seeking students enrolled
at HBCUs, HBGIs, HSIs, and other institutions serving
disadvantaged populations who complete a degree or certificate
will increase over time. In 1997-1998, 35 percent of students
at four-year schools receiving Aid for Institutional
Development completed their degrees within six years. Of
students at two-year schools, 18 percent earned a degree or
certificate or transferred to a four-year school within three
years.
Student Loans: The Federal Government plans to provide nearly $37
billion in new student loans to 5.5 million borrowers in 2002. Loans are
provided through two programs: the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL)
program and the Federal Direct Student Loan (FDSL) program. The FFEL
program will originate approximately two-thirds of new loan volume
through a network of approximately 4,100 private lenders, 36 guaranty
agencies, 50 participants in the secondary markets, and over 4,000
participating schools. The Federal Government provides lenders with a
98-percent guarantee against default and interest subsidy payments to
ensure a sufficient lender rate of return. The FDSL, created in 1993,
provides the remaining third of new student loan volume directly from
the Department of Education through participating schools.
Under current law, teachers who are employed in high-poverty schools
for five years may have up to $5,000 of their Federal student loans
forgiven. The Administration proposes to expand this program to allow
individuals who majored in math or science and who teach those subjects
in high-need schools to have up to $17,500 of their loans forgiven.
Vocational Rehabilitation Services: The Vocational Rehabilitation (VR)
program helps individuals with disabilities prepare for and obtain
gainful employment to the extent of their capabilities. State VR
agencies are also required One-Stop partners under the Workforce
Investment Act of 1998. The Administration proposes $2.5 billion for the
VR program, an $82 million increase.
Today, the unemployment rate for Americans with disabilities is
unacceptably high, and individuals with disabilities face significant
obstacles in obtaining competitive employment in the general labor
market.
In 2002, one of VR's performance goals is that 63.2 percent
of all individuals with disabilities served in the VR program
will obtain employment, up from 62.5 percent in 1999.
New Freedom Initiative: In addition, the Department of Education's
budget proposal supports part of the New Freedom Initiative, to help
individuals with disabilities access the best assistive technologies of
today, invest in research and development so even better technologies
will be available in the future, and promote telecommuting opportunities
for individuals with disabilities.
Management Reforms
Financial Management: Since 1996, when independent audits were first
required, the Department of Education has received only one unqualified
audit opinion, and that was in 1997. Beginning in 1999, separate
independent audit reports have also been prepared for the performance-
based Student Financial Assistance (SFA) Office. Audits of both the
Department as a whole and SFA have repeatedly found major financial
management
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deficiencies. These failed audits indicate a potential for improper use
of Government resources. Through investments in updated financial
reporting systems, as well as better oversight and other management
improvements, the Department expects to significantly increase the
reliability and accuracy of its financial data. The Department's goals
are:
By 2002, the Department will have implemented and launched a
new general ledger system and asset tracking software that
will address many of the Inspector General's longstanding
concerns about Education's financial management.
For 2002, the Department will resolve all outstanding
material weaknesses from prior reports and receive an
unqualified (``clean'') audit opinion on all of its financial
statements.
The Department will ensure that its information systems are
safe and secure by implementing and testing contingency back-
up plans.
Student Aid Modernization: The Department of Education manages the
delivery of student aid benefits to over eight million students in
approximately 5,300 postsecondary schools and oversees the direct and
guaranteed loan systems, affecting 37 million individuals, 4,100
lenders, and 36 guarantee agencies. To correct perennial deficiencies in
the Department's student aid operations, the Higher Education Amendments
of 1998 created the Federal Government's first performance-based
organization, with the goal of modernizing student aid delivery and
management. Student aid modernization is dependent on better use of
efficient technologies, simplification of business processes, and
seamless coordination with myriad partners in the higher education
community.
The three primary goals of the SFA Office, which is charged with this
modernization effort, are to:
Improve customer satisfaction: SFA has established the goal
of increasing the satisfaction of customers of the student
financial assistance programs to a level commensurate with
private sector financial service firms. Under the national
survey conducted by the University of Michigan in 1999, SFA
scored 63 in satisfaction. The goal is to increase this rating
to 74 out of 100 by 2002.
Reduce cost: SFA has set a target to reduce the projected
unit cost of delivering each student aid dollar by 19 percent
by 2004. This cut in operating costs is necessary given flat
administrative funding levels coupled with a fast-growing
workload. In 2002, SFA will continue to re-invest all
budgetary savings from reformed operations into the
modernization effort in order to achieve its goal for 2004.
Improve employee satisfaction: Recognizing that employee
satisfaction is essential to modernizing the delivery of
student financial assistance and achieving the aforementioned
goals, SFA has committed to raising employee satisfaction, as
measured by the Gallup Workplace Management (GWM) survey, to a
level comparable to the private sector (3.6 out of 5.0) by
2004. SFA will use the GWM to measure satisfaction at the work
group level in order to develop action plans aimed at
improving any areas with low scores.
Default Prevention: Over the last eight years, outstanding student
loan defaults have more than doubled from $12 billion to $25 billion,
resulting in significant costs for taxpayers. As the loan programs
continue to grow--outstanding loan volumes increased from $81 billion to
$224 between 1993 and 2000--outstanding defaults will continue to
increase unless the Department and its partners significantly improve
default management and prevention activities.
During 2001 and 2002, the Department plans to work to minimize new
defaults and maximize loan collections through continued counseling of
students on their loan repayment responsibilities, improved early
identification of problem loans, and implementation of loan management
``best practices.''
Reducing Erroneous Payments: As part of the Administration's
Government reform effort to reduce erroneous payments to Pell Grant and
student loan beneficiaries, the Departments of Education and Treasury
plan to review their pilot program to match income data reported on
student aid applications
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against IRS data, as well as the results of two test matches, to
determine whether a permanent matching program would be cost-effective
and consistent with relevant statutes governing taxpayer privacy and
privacy in data sharing between agencies. A match could enable the
Department of Education to reduce fraud and improve eligibility
determinations in Federal student aid programs.
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education and training
investments enable Americans to acquire the skills to get good jobs in
an increasingly competitive global economy. In addition, most workers
acquire more skills on the job or through the billions of dollars that
employers spend each year to enhance worker skills and productivity.
However, some workers also need special, targeted assistance. In
addition to Pell Grants, student loans, and tax credits, the budget
requests $6.6 billion for Department of Labor (DOL) programs that
finance job training and related services. Workers who want to learn
about job openings can use the One-Stop Career Center/Employment Service
and DOL's popular America's Job Bank (AJB) web site, which lists an
average of 1.5 million job vacancies daily and has over 10 million job
searches each month. Employers can search through resumes posted on the
AJB web site, with over 500,000 daily listings.
The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998: The WIA took full effect
on July 1, 2000, as the Job Training Partnership Act was repealed and
all States began to implement the WIA requirements. The WIA calls for a
customer-driven job training system that focuses on: streamlining
services through One-Stop Career Centers; empowering individuals with
the information and resources they need to choose the training that is
right for them; providing universal access to a core set of employment
services, such as job search assistance; increasing accountability;
ensuring a strong role for the private sector and the local boards who
develop and oversee programs; facilitating State and local flexibility;
and improving the quality of youth development and job training
services.
In 2000, spending for the core WIA programs, including State grants
for Dislocated Workers, Adults and Youth Activities, was well below
expectations. The budget promotes efficiency by utilizing these
unexpended balances to maintain current service levels in the core
programs. The 2002 budget also supports the WIA goal of a streamlined
job training system by reallocating funding from duplicative, or
narrowly targeted programs in favor of the core WIA programs.
In addition, the budget addresses shortcomings of the WIA financial
reporting system. Currently, DOL's Employment and Training
Administration lacks an integrated information management system for the
regular reporting of financial and performance data. The budget provides
resources to increase DOL financial management capacity and to
strengthen program management through specialized oversight and
assistance to States and other grant recipients. The budget provides
resources to improve the Department's financial reporting systems to
strengthen accountability.
Over the next few years, DOL will work to implement fully the
performance accountability provisions of the WIA. In July 2000, each
State began implementing an accountability system to measure
performance. The goal of this system is to optimize the return on
investment of Federal funds directed to State and local workforce
activities. This accountability system will assess the effectiveness of
States and local areas in achieving positive outcomes and ensuring
continuous improvement of their workforce investment systems. The WIA
establishes core performance indicators related to unsubsidized job
placements, retention, and increased earnings; customer satisfaction for
job seekers and employers; and attainment of occupational or educational
skills credentials. DOL worked with each State to establish appropriate
baselines and challenging performance goals.
The performance goals for the WIA Adult Program are to
increase the employment, retention, and earnings of
individuals registered. Specifically, in 2002, of those
registered in the program, 70 percent will be employed in the
quarter after program exit; 80 percent will be employed in the
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third quarter after program exit; and the average earnings
change, compared to the third quarter prior to registration,
for those who are employed in the third quarter after program
exit, will be $3,423.
The performance goals for the WIA Dislocated Worker Program
are to increase the employment, retention, and earnings
replacement of registered individuals. Specifically, in 2002,
75 percent of those registered in the program will be employed
in the quarter after exit; 85 percent will be employed in the
third quarter after program exit; and, of those who are
employed in the third quarter after program exit, their
earnings will represent 92 percent of their pre-dislocation
earnings.
The performance goal for the WIA Youth Activities Formula
Grants Program is to increase the number of youth making a
successful transition to a career path. Specifically, in 2002,
of the 14- to 18-year-old youth registered in the program, 53
percent will be either employed, in advanced training, post-
secondary education, military service, or apprenticeships, in
the third quarter after program exit. Of the 19- to 21-year-
old youth registered in the program, 77 percent will be
employed in the third quarter after program exit.
The WIA establishes strong ties between performance and funding. If a
State fails to meet its expected levels of performance in any year, it
will receive technical assistance from DOL. If a State continues to fail
to meet its agreed-upon performance levels for a second year, or if a
State fails to report its performance information in any year, its
funding may be reduced by up to five percent. Because the WIA is a new
program, the above goals will be regularly reviewed for appropriateness
and rigor.
One-Stop Centers/Employment Service: The One-Stop Center/Employment
Service provides a single point of contact for information about and
access to education, job training and employment services, and a free
labor exchange for all job seekers and employers. It is growing more
effective through implementation of a One-Stop delivery system. The
budget proposes $980 million for a range of information and services,
including self-service access to job and labor market information,
either through the Internet or in local offices, as well as staff-
assisted services for those needing more help.
The performance goal for the One-Stop Centers is to increase
the total number of job openings listed with the public labor
exchange, including State Employment Security Agencies (SESAs)
and AJB. Specifically, in 2002, the program plans to increase
the total number of job openings by five percent over the 2001
level to 13.5 million (AJB and SESAs) and increase the number
of new employers that register with AJB by 10 percent to
76,000.
Work Incentive Grants: To enhance the employment prospects of
individuals with disabilities, the budget includes $20 million for
competitive grants to partnerships or consortia to provide new services
and information for individuals with disabilities who want to return to
work. These partnerships would work with the One-Stop system to augment
its capabilities to provide timely and accurate information that people
with disabilities need to get jobs and learn about the benefits
available to them when they return to work. In addition, the
partnerships would improve local service delivery by coordinating the
State and local agencies and disability organizations that help
individuals with disabilities prepare to enter or reenter the workforce.
Workplace Protections: DOL regulates compliance with various laws
that protect individuals in the workplace--a minimum wage for virtually
all workers, prevailing wages and equal employment opportunity for
workers on government contracts, overtime pay, restrictions on child
labor, and time off for family illness or childbirth. (For discussion of
workplace safety programs, see Chapter 12, ``Health.'') In these areas,
the Federal Government seeks to increase industry's compliance with
labor protections through voluntary compliance efforts coupled with
continued enforcement. DOL measures the success of these efforts against
specific measurable goals:
In the area of workplace protection, the performance goal for
the Department is to increase compliance--including among
employers which were previous violators and the subject of
repeat investigations--with
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labor standards laws and regulations in nationally targeted
industries, including health care, garment and agriculture.
For example, in 2002, the Department's goal is to increase the
compliance rate in the nationally targeted industries (or
sectors of those industries) by an average of at least five
percentage points.
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Promote Safe and Stable Families: The Administration for Children and
Families (ACF) administers a number of programs that focus on preventing
maltreatment of children, protecting children from abuse and neglect,
and finding permanent placements for children who cannot safely return
to their homes. To strengthen States' ability to promote child safety,
permanency, and well-being, the President proposes to reauthorize the
Promoting Safe and Stable Families program at $505 million in 2002, a
$200 million increase over the 2001 level. These additional resources
will help States to keep children with their biological families if safe
and appropriate, to return children to their families, if possible, or
to place children with adoptive families. By undertaking more
preventative efforts to help families in crisis, the prospects for
children to live in a permanent home are enhanced. To support these
efforts, the President also proposes to provide an additional $2 million
to expand collaborative Federal/State child welfare monitoring efforts.
For those children who cannot live with their biological parents, the
budget proposes to encourage increased adoptions by raising the adoption
tax credit from $5,000 to $7,500.
In 2002, decrease the percentage of children with
substantiated reports of maltreatment who have a repeat
substantiated report of maltreatment within six months from
eight percent in calendar year 1998 to seven percent.
Increase the number of adoptions from 46,000 in 1999 to
56,000 in 2002.
The President also proposes to provide greater assistance to older
foster children. Approximately 16,000 young people leave foster care
each year when they reach age 18 without an adoptive family or other
guardian. Research indicates that these young people experience alarming
rates of homelessness, early pregnancy, mental illness, unemployment,
and drug abuse in the first years after they leave the system. To help
these children, the budget proposes to provide $60 million through the
Independent Living Program specifically for education and training
vouchers to youth who are aging out of foster care. This initiative will
help ensure that these young people are able to obtain the support they
need to develop skills to lead independent and productive lives.
Vouchers worth up to $5,000 would be available to cover the costs of
college tuition or vocational training.
Mentoring Children of Prisoners: The Administration proposes to create
a new $67 million initiative within the Promoting Safe and Stable
Families program to assist children of prisoners. This initiative will
provide grants through States to assist faith and community-based groups
in providing a range of activities, including family-rebuilding programs
that serve low-income children of prisoners and probationers.
Responsible Fatherhood Initiative: The budget includes $64 million in
2002 ($315 million over five years) to strengthen the role of fathers in
the lives of families. This initiative will provide competitive grants
to faith-based and community organizations that help unemployed or low-
income fathers and their families avoid or leave cash welfare, as well
as to programs that promote successful parenting and strengthen
marriage. The initiative also will fund projects of national
significance that support expansion of State and local responsible
fatherhood efforts.
Head Start: Head Start is administered by ACF. The budget provides
$6.325 billion for Head Start, a $125 million increase over the 2001
level.
In 2002, Head Start will serve an estimated 916,000 children.
Within the overall total of children served, approximately
55,000 children under age three will participate in the Early
Head Start component.
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The President has proposed to reform Head Start and return it to its
original purpose--education. Head Start programs will be required to
adopt a proven core curriculum that makes school readiness--pre-reading
and numeracy--its top priority. The budget includes an Early Reading
First program within the Department of Education for research-based
reading programs in existing pre-school programs, including Head Start
programs. Planning is also underway to move Head Start to the Department
of Education to reinforce the emphasis on school readiness.
Compassion and Charitable Giving: The President proposes two
initiatives to ensure that the Federal Government plays a larger role in
providing support to charitable organizations. The ``Compassion Capital
Fund'' will provide start-up capital and operating funds totaling $89
million in 2002 to qualified charitable organizations that wish to
expand or emulate model programs. In addition, the fund will support and
promote research on ``best practices'' among charitable organizations.
Finally, to encourage States to create state tax credits for
contributions to designated charities, the budget will propose
legislation to allow States to use Federal Temporary Assistance to Needy
Families funds to partially offset revenue losses.
Maternity Group Homes: The budget also includes $33 million in 2002
for maternity group homes, which are community-based, adult-supervised
group homes or apartment clusters for teenage mothers and their
children. The homes provide safe, stable, nurturing environments for
teenage mothers and their children who cannot live with their own
families because of abuse, neglect, or other extenuating circumstances.
Aging Services Programs: The Administration on Aging (AoA) administers
information and assistance, home and community-based support services
for older people and support programs that protect the rights of
vulnerable, at-risk older people. In 2002, the budget proposes $1.1
billion for these AoA programs.
In 2002, AoA will increase the number of meals served under
the Home-Delivered Meals Program to 183 million, compared to
176 million meals in 2001.
NATIONAL SERVICE
The Corporation for National and Community Service supports programs
providing service opportunities nationwide for Americans of all ages and
backgrounds. The Corporation organizes its programs into three streams
of service, with various annual performance goals.
National Senior Service Corps: The Senior Corps links the talents,
skills, and experiences of more than 500,000 older Americans with
service opportunities in the areas of education, public safety, health,
human needs, and the environment. Members serve as Foster Grandparents,
as Senior Companions, and in the Retired and Senior Volunteers Program
(RSVP). In 2002, the budget proposes $203 million for the Senior Corps,
a $14 million increase over 2001 and the first step of the President's
five-year strategy to increase the annual funding for the Senior Corps
to the $250 million over five years.
For 2002, the Foster Grandparents and Senior Companions
programs plan to serve some 160,000 special-needs youth and
frail elderly, while RSVP volunteers will serve through more
than 70,000 local organizations.
AmeriCorps: The AmeriCorps program helps Americans of all backgrounds
to serve in local communities through programs sponsored by local and
national nonprofits. Participants serve full or part-time generally for
at least a year. For their service, participants become eligible to
receive education awards that help pay for college, graduate school or
re-pay student loans.
For 2002, the AmeriCorps program plans to engage 50,000
Americans in community service, and provide education awards
in return for such service.
Learn and Serve America: This program provides young people with
opportunities to serve by connecting community service with academic
learning, personal growth and civic responsibility.
For 2002, the Learn and Serve program plans to engage more
than one million students in elementary schools, high schools
and colleges in service-learning programs.
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CULTURAL AGENCIES
The Smithsonian Institution and Other Cultural Agencies: The
Smithsonian Institution, the National Gallery of Art, the U.S. Holocaust
Memorial Museum, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and
the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars all have as part of
their missions the advancement of knowledge and sharing that knowledge
with the American public. To accomplish its mission, each institution
must maintain its physical infrastructure and provide access to its
unique assets. In 2002, each agency will undertake at least two
management reform activities: addressing the backlog of deferred
maintenance and enhancing management decisions through improved
budgetary information.
The budget requests $494 million for the Smithsonian Institution,
$80.4 million for the National Gallery of Art, $36 million for the U.S.
Holocaust Memorial Museum, $34 million for the John F. Kennedy Center
for the Performing Arts, and $7.8 million for the Woodrow Wilson
International Center for Scholars.
To address the backlog of deferred maintenance, each agency will
prepare a plan that encompasses renovation activities, annual
maintenance, and backlog maintenance. The plans will also propose a
strategy for how each agency will take appropriate action. The plans
will be reviewed by an independent entity as part of a Government-wide
review of cultural agency buildings and repair and restoration plans for
museums.
Each of these agencies is, to some extent, a partnership between the
Federal Government and the private sector, relying on funding from both
partners. In order to assess the overall fiscal health and strategy of
the enterprise, it is necessary to understand not only the Federal
portion, but also the funding anticipated from private sources.
Therefore, each agency will work to present its proposed budget for 2003
in a format such that the components are clearly identifiable, including
projections for private funding.
The National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities: In 2002, the
Administration proposes $105 million for the National Endowment for the
Arts and $121 million for the National Endowment for the Humanities.
For the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the
Administration requests $193 million. IMLS awards grants and cooperative
agreements to assist the Nation's museums and libraries in increasing
and expanding their services to the public. In 2002, IMLS plans to
invest in: responding to the educational needs of learners of all ages;
providing the public with broad access to library and museum services;
supporting technology to improve library and museum services; serving
the changing informational and educational needs of families; helping
museums and libraries expand their roles as centers of community
engagement; preserving our cultural heritage; and maintaining efficient
internal operations.
Commission of Fine Arts: The Commission of Fine Arts supports non-
profit cultural entities in the Washington, D.C. region, using funds
appropriated to its National Capital Arts and Cultural Affairs account.
The budget requests $8.3 million for the Commission of Fine Arts.
Currently, the support is through formulation-based grants. In 2002, the
Commission will examine the benefits and consequences of implementing a
competitive grants program, rather than awarding the funds based on
formulas, in order to improve the quality of activities supported by
Federal funds.
National Capital Planning Commission: The National Capital Planning
Commission provides overall planning guidance for Federal land and
buildings in the National Capital Region. The budget requests $7.3
million for the National Capital Planning Commission. The Planning
Commission will examine the content and timeline of its Federal Capital
Improvements Program, which coordinates proposed Federal land and
building projects, to make it more useful to Federal agencies in their
capital budgeting process.
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Tax Expenditures
The Federal Government helps individuals, families, and employers (on
behalf of their employees) pay for education and training, and helps
State and local governments support education and training activities,
through numerous tax benefits, which under current law will cost an
estimated $39 billion in 2002, and $215 billion from 2002 to 2006.
The President proposes four new or expanded tax incentives. To help
parents offset the increasing costs of education, the annual
contribution limit for Education Savings Accounts would be increased
from $500 to $5,000, and families would be allowed to withdraw these
funds tax-free to pay educational costs from kindergarten through
college. To encourage parents to save early for college, a full tax
exemption would be available for all qualified pre-paid tuition and
savings plans. The President also proposes a new tax deduction for
teachers to deduct up to $400 annually to defray out-of-pocket classroom
expenses, including books, school supplies, and professional development
programs. The President proposes to help local school districts meet
school construction demands by allowing tax-exempt State private
activity bonds to be used for school construction and repair.
The President proposes to extend the Work Opportunity Tax Credit and
the Welfare-to-Work Tax Credit, letting employers claim a tax credit for
part of the wages they pay to certain hard-to-employ people who work for
them for a minimum period. Other current tax expenditures continue under
the budget, such as tax credits to help families offset the costs of
higher education. In addition, State and local governments can issue
tax-exempt debt to finance student loans or build facilities of non-
profit educational institutions. Interest from certain U.S. Savings
Bonds is tax-free if the bonds go solely to pay for education. Many
employers provide education benefits that do not count as income.