School plan centers on Pell Grants

Issues that matter most to students — those affecting their pocketbooks — are topping President Bush’s second-term education agenda.

As he prepares to lay out an ambitious domestic program, Bush has proposed to increase Pell Grant funding for poor students by $15 billion over 10 years.

His proposed increase follows a December announcement by the U.S. Department of Education that it would revise the formula for distributing aid. Thousands of students will be cut from the Pell Grant rolls when the new formula is implemented.

The White House said it would fund the proposed increases by reducing subsidies the federal government pays to lenders that provide student loans.

Democrats are skeptical of the plan. Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts faulted Bush for not honoring his earlier pledges to increase aid.

Other education items on the Bush agenda include expanding the No Child Left Behind Act and promoting reading initiatives.

Bush’s top domestic priority is to reform Social Security. The New Deal-era legislation, which provides older Americans guaranteed retirement pensions, might run dry without some type of reform, Bush says.

The White House has proposed allowing young people to redirect a percentage of funds into private investment accounts instead of paying fully into the Social Security fund. Bush has declared that young people must have a stake in their future, calling it part of his goal to create an “ownership society.”

The President might have the knockout punch in his corner, considering the Republicans control the U.S. House and U.S. Senate.

“The Republicans are determined,” said Vincent Hutchings, a political science professor at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. “This may be their one shot and it might not sputter out like we’re used to.”

For Bush to muster enough Congressional support, he will have to pull a substantial number of Democrats to his side. Many congressmen representing moderate Republican districts would not win support from voters if Social Security reform passes, Hutchings said.

“Bush has to do more than get a few token Democrats,” he added. “Given the polarized nature of politics, 10 to 15 Republicans might not go along.”

But Dean Lacy, a professor of political science at Ohio State University, said Social Security is a safe political issue regardless of whether there is an actual crisis.

“The strategy will be to hype the imminent failure of the program,” he said. “Bush can win the media war.”

The financial sector will benefit immediately from reform, Lacy said, but added that “the people who stand to lose the most won’t know for 30 to 40 years.”

 

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.