Education Department seeks $47.6 billion

WASHINGTON, May 7 (UPI) -- The U.S. Education Department's $47.6 billion budget proposal reforms the nation's schools while cutting waste, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Thursday.

"This budget makes tough decisions, investing in the programs that will deliver results in student learning while ending ones that aren't working," Duncan said. "It will give educators the resources they need to turn around the schools in the most trouble, and it will build a foundation for success in school for our youngest citizens."

The proposed budget would eliminate 12 programs and cut 10 positions in the department's regional offices, Duncan said. The proposed program cuts would save $550 million.

The fiscal year 2010 budget also would augment funding to several programs that received money through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to improve teacher effectiveness, improve struggling schools and prepare preschool children for kindergarten, he said.

The proposal also will seek to provide financial assistance to help defray post-secondary education costs, including increasing the maximum award under the Pell Grant program to $5,500 for fiscal year 2010 and guaranteeing the grant would increase by the rate of inflation plus 1 percent in the future years.