ODYSSEYWARE

Tonight, President Obama will announce his spending priorities for the next year. With a large deficit facing the country and spending a major concern for many voters, the President has made announcements that spending will be severely curtailed under his new budget with one notable exception: education. As CBS reports, this upcoming year’s education budget will face an extraordinary increase after experiencing an unprecedented one year increase in last year’s budget and stimulus spending. The result is a greater ability for school districts to accommodate learners and make technology acquisitions that modernize classrooms and meet today’s digital natives. From CBS:

President Barack Obama will highlight his commitment to education reform in his State of the Union address Wednesday, highlighted by a 6.2 percent increase for the Department of Education.

Although this increase is welcome news, the devil will be in the details, as early news stories are claiming that many existing programs will be cut or consolidated resulting in decreased spending in other, yet to be named, programs of the Department of Education. All that said, this unprecedented level of spending should give reason for cheer in the education sector that has consistently called for greater funding. A 6.2% increase amounts to nearly $4 billion in additional spending. Great news for education and hopefully for students!