Under the FY 2005 omnibus appropriations bill, the Math and Science
Partnership (MSP) program within the Department of Education grows by
19.8 percent, while the NSF's Math and Science Partnership program slashed
by 43.0 percent. Appropriators did not agree with the Administration's
request to focus the new Education Department MSP money on secondary
math improvement, nor did they agree to move NSF's MSP program from
the Education and Human Resources Activity to "Integrative Activities."
Below are details from the omnibus appropriations bill (H.R. 4818),
after taking into account the mandatory 0.8 percent across-the-board
reduction:
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Mathematics and Science Partnerships: Up 19.8%, to $178.6 million.
This is an increase of $29.5 million from FY 2004 funding of $149.1
million. House appropriators recommended $269.1 million, while Senate
appropriators recommended $200.0 million. The Administration's FY 2005
request called for $269.1 million, an 80.5 percent increase that would
have been targeted toward secondary-school math improvement. Under the
appropriations bill, the new funding is not fenced off for mathematics
programs.
The appropriations bill's "joint explanatory statement" includes
the following text on the Education Department's MSPs: "In light
of the tremendous overlap in math and science goals and objectives between
the math and science partnership program and the Advanced Placement
(AP) initiatives, grantees are encouraged to incorporate AP training
into their proposals. As in the math and science program, the AP professional
development initiative focuses on increasing teachers' math and science
content understanding to help them meet the highly qualified criteria
required under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act as amended
by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The AP professional development
initiative supports teachers' content development so that all students,
regardless of whether or not they take AP, will receive rigorous, challenging
math and science instruction. The AP math and science initiative has
the primary objective of increasing the number of AP opportunities,
AP participation rates, and post-secondary acceptance and success rates
for disadvantaged students."
Also within the Education Department, $2,916.6 million is provided
for Improving Teacher Quality State Grants. This is a decrease of 0.5
percent, or $13.5 million, from FY 2004 funding of $2,930.1 million.
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Mathematics and Science Partnerships: Down 43.0%, to $79.4 million.
This is a decrease of $59.8 million from FY 2004 funding of $139.2
million. House appropriators recommended $82.5 million, while Senate
appropriators recommended $110.0 million. The Administration would have
cut the funding to $80.0 million and moved it from NSF's Education and
Human Resources Activity to "Integrative Activities" as a
first step in eliminating the program. While program funding is still
cut almost in half under the appropriations bill, it is retained in
the Education and Human Resources Activity.
The following funding levels are specified for the other programs within
NSF's Education and Human Resources Activity:
EPSCoR:
Down 0.7% or $0.7 million, from $94.4 million to $93.7 million.
Elementary, Secondary and Informal Education:
Down 14.3% or $30.3 million, from $212.3 million to $182.0 million.
Undergraduate Education:
Down 1.2% or $1.8 million, from $155.5 million to $153.7 million.
Graduate Education:
Down 0.8% or $1.3 million, from $156.0 million to $154.7 million.
Human Resource Development:
Up 2.2% or $2.6 million, from $115.9 million to $118.5 million.
Research, Evaluation and Communication:
Down 9.6% or $6.3 million, from $65.8 million to $59.5 million.
The full text of the omnibus appropriations bill and joint explanatory
statement are available at http://thomas.loc.gov/home/approp/app05.html.
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