华盛顿——随着民主党推进总统选举乔·拜登在美国3.5万亿美元的重建计划中，他们承诺在整个教育领域进行历史性投资——从幼儿教育到大学及更高层次的教育——倡导者称之为几十年来最全面的一揽子计划。
拜登“重建得更好”提案中的教育条款将成为无数美国人上学机会的基石，并考验美国以深远方式扩大联邦项目的意愿。
公平是一个重点，因为它寻求消除几十年来导致基于种族和收入的工资和学习差距的教育障碍。通过扩大早期教育和儿童保育项目，该项目旨在让在新冠肺炎大流行期间离职的工人，尤其是妇女回来照顾学校关闭的孩子。
总而言之，美国人将有资格享受两年的免费学前教育和两年的免费社区大学。数百万家庭将有资格获得扩大的儿童保育补贴。并且将会有更多的联邦财政援助给低收入大学生。
“在我的记忆中，我们还没有做过这样的事情，”教育非营利组织“学院准入和成功研究所”的副主任杰西卡·汤普森说。“是梦。”
国会正在努力满足周一自行规定的最后期限，拜登的更广泛的提议可能会在本周晚些时候提交给众议院。但是民主党人必须首先克服他们内部在计划范围上的分歧。3.5万亿美元的提案几乎触及美国生活的方方面面，从医疗保健和税收到气候和住房，大部分是通过提高企业和富人的税收来支付的。
价格标签可能会下降，野心也会缩小，以安抚对大规模支出持谨慎态度的中间派议员。但是这些削减引起了进步人士和其他人的担忧，他们说他们已经妥协得够多了。
例如，对历史上的黑人学院和大学的资助已经从拜登早期的计划中大幅削减。随着议员们关注其他可能的节约成本举措，修复老化校舍的资金可能会流失。
在最近的众议院委员会听证会上，佛罗里达州众议员弗雷德里克·威尔逊认为，任何进一步的削减都可能危及其教育计划的成功。
“即使在这里提出了强劲的投资，我们仍然在缩短重要项目，”她说。
民主党人正在独自推进，因为共和党人谴责该提案是向社会主义迈出的一步，将加剧通货膨胀并使经济紧张。他们认为，免费社区大学将有利于获得资源的富裕学生，而牺牲低收入学生的利益。甚至在通常会得到两党支持的儿童保健问题上，共和党人也表示该计划走得太远了。
众议院教育和劳工委员会的共和党高层、北卡罗来纳州众议员弗吉尼亚·福克斯(Virginia Foxx)说:“我们应该专注于确保努力工作的纳税人能够为他们的孩子找到最好的照顾，而不是盲目地把钱砸在这个问题上，称之为解决方案。
加在一起，7610亿美元的教育投资占拜登一揽子计划总额的五分之一。它们旨在为孩子，尤其是低收入家庭的孩子提供一个更好的学习起点。高等教育计划旨在让更多的成年人进入大学，并帮助他们获得学位，从而获得更高收入的工作。
即使该方案在共和党的强烈反对下获得通过，一些著名的教育提案也将面临一大障碍:获得各州的支持。
例如，社区大学和学前教育计划仅适用于选择加入并支付部分费用的州。支持者担心一些州会因为政治原因或为了避免成本而拒绝这些项目。
民主党关于普及学前教育的提议——拜登的竞选承诺之一——将与各州建立新的伙伴关系，为所有3岁和4岁的孩子提供免费的学前教育。联邦政府将支付前三年的全部费用，然后缩减规模，直到各州支付40%。七年后，它将结束或需要更新。
一项单独的条款将把儿童保育福利扩大到更广泛的家庭，家庭的成本上限不超过其收入的7%。与议程的其他方面不同，它不需要州的参与——即使他们的州不需要，城市或县也可以选择参与。
有了免费的社区大学，拜登希望实现自奥巴马政府以来他一直在推动的福利。根据该提案，参与州的任何人都有资格上两年的社区大学，无需支付学费。
选择加入的州将通过一个公式获得联邦资金;他们最终会被要求支付大约20%的费用。该法案将提供足够的资金支持该计划五年。
其他条款包括将低收入大学生的佩尔助学金上限提高500美元，对教师培训项目进行新的投资，以及为学校基础设施投资820亿美元。在大学可负担性倡导者的倡导下，这一举措还将使联邦大学援助对“推迟儿童入学行动”项目中的学生可用。
该计划受到了教育倡导团体的称赞，尽管许多人希望佩尔助学金计划有更大的增长。
教育信托基金会的临时首席执行官丹尼斯·福特说，该法案有可能为长期落后的社区打开新的大门。但她表示，该计划的成功将在很大程度上取决于各州的接受程度。
“一些州可能认为障碍太高了，尽管有很大的回报，”她说。“一些可能不愿意的州的有色人种学生比例最高，他们在这些问题上缺乏接触。”
还有人批评该法案未能兑现拜登的一些承诺，尤其是对美国黑人和其他帮助他入主白宫的关键投票团体的承诺。
在之前的提案中，拜登呼吁至少拿出450亿美元支持历史上黑人学院和大学的研究。然而，该法案仅包括20亿美元用于这一目的，这引发了哈佛商学院领导人的反对，他们在周三发布了一封信，要求“再增加几十亿美元”
最近几周，围绕这一问题的紧张局势有所加剧，国会黑人核心小组中的一些民主党人威胁称，除非增加更多资金，否则他们不会支持该法案。
Biden plan seeks to expand education, from pre-K to college
WASHINGTON -- As Democrats push ahead with PresidentJoe Biden’s $3.5 trillion rebuilding plan, they’re promising historic investments across the arc of an education — from early childhood to college and beyond — in what advocates describe as the most comprehensive package of its kind in decades.
The education provisions in Biden's “Build Back Better” proposal would serve as a bedrock for schooling opportunities for countless Americans and test the nation's willingness to expand federal programs in far-reaching ways.
Equity is a focus, as it seeks to remove barriers to education that for decades have resulted in wage and learning disparities based on race and income. And by expanding early education and child care programs, it aims to bring back workers, especially women, who left jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic to look after children whose schools were closed.
All told, Americans would be entitled to two years of free preschool plus two years of free community college. Millions of families would be eligible for expanded child care subsidies. And there would be more federal financial aid for low-income college students.
“We haven’t done anything like that in my memory," said Jessica Thompson, associate vice president of the Institute for College Access and Success, an education nonprofit. "It’s the dream.”
Congress is working to meet Monday's self-imposed deadlines, and Biden's broader proposal could come before the House later in the week. But Democrats must first overcome divisions within their own ranks over the scope of the plan. The $3.5 trillion proposal reaches nearly every aspect of American life, from health care and taxes to the climate and housing, largely paid for by raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy.
The price tag will likely drop and ambitions scaled back to appease more centrist lawmakers wary of big spending. But the cuts are drawing concerns from progressives and others who say they have already compromised enough.
Funding for historically Black colleges and universities, for example, has been slashed from Biden's earlier plans. As lawmakers eye other possible cost-saving moves, money to repair aging school buildings could lose out.
At a recent House committee hearing, Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., argued that any more cuts could jeopardize the success of its education programs.
“Even with the robust investments proposed here, we are still shortchanging vital programs,” she said.
Democrats are pushing ahead on their own because Republicans decry the proposal as a step toward socialism that will worsen inflation and strain the economy. They argue that free community college will benefit wealthier students who access the resource, at the expense of those with lower-incomes. And even on child care, which typically brings bipartisan support, Republicans say the plan goes too far.
“We should be focused on ensuring hardworking taxpayers can find the best care for their children rather than blindly throwing money at the problem and calling it a solution,” said Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, the top Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee.
Taken together, the $761 billion in education investments make up a fifth of Biden's total package. They're intended to provide a stronger academic start for children, especially those from low-income families. The higher education plans aim to get more adults into college and help them graduate with degrees that will lead to higher-paying jobs.
Even if the package is approved over solid GOP opposition, some of the marquee education proposals would face a big hurdle: getting buy-in from states.
For example, the community college and preschool plans would apply only in states that opt in and cover a portion of the cost. Supporters worry that some states will reject the programs over political grounds or to avoid the cost.
Democrats’ proposal for universal preschool — one of Biden’s campaign promises — would create new partnerships with states to offer free prekindergarten for all 3- and 4-year-olds. The federal government would cover the entire cost for the first three years before scaling back until states are paying 40%. After seven years, it would end or need to be renewed.
A separate provision would expand child care benefits to a wider swath of families, and cost for families would be capped at no more than 7% of their earnings. Unlike other aspects of the agenda, it wouldn’t require state participation — cities or counties could opt in even if their states don’t.
With free community college, Biden hopes to deliver a benefit that he’s been pushing since the Obama administration. Under the proposal, anyone in a participating state would be eligible attend two years of community college without paying tuition.
States that opt in would get federal funding through a formula; they eventually would be asked to cover about 20% of the cost. The bill would provide enough funding to support the program for five years.
Other provisions include a $500 increase to the maximum Pell grant for low-income college students, new investments in teacher training programs and $82 billion for school infrastructure. In a move heralded by college affordability advocates, it would also make federal college aid available to students in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
The plan has been lauded by education advocacy groups, even though many were hoping for a bigger increase to the Pell grant program.
Denise Forte, interim CEO of the Education Trust, said the bill has the potential to open new doors for communities that have long been left behind. But she said the plan’s success will largely rest on its acceptance by states.
“Some states may see the barrier as too high, even though there’s a significant return,” she said. “And some of the states that may not be willing have the highest proportion of students of color who lack access across the range of these issues.”
There’s also criticism that the bill fails to deliver some of Biden’s promises, particularly to Black Americans and other key voting groups that helped deliver him to the White House.
In previous proposals, Biden called for at least $45 billion to support research at historically Black colleges and universities. The bill includes just $2 billion for that purpose, though, prompting pushback from HBCU leaders who issued a letter on Wednesday requesting “several more billions of dollars.”
Tensions have mounted over the issue in recent weeks, with some Democrats in the Congressional Black Caucus threatening to withhold support from the bill unless more funding is added.
