Bush's 2003 budget proposal includes provision for private education. (Government spotlight: the latest news from and about education from the U.S. government).

Bush's 2003 budget proposal includes provision for private education. (Government spotlight: the latest news from and about education from the U.S. government). Debate about tuition reimbursement for private school instructionbegan anew in February when President Bush released his proposed federaleducation budget for 2003. The new budget includes a proposal for a "tuition tax creditprogram" that would reimburse 50 percent of the tuition andtransportation costs for public or private education, including homeschooling home schooling,the practice of teaching children in the home as an alternative to attending public or private elementary or high school. In most cases, one or both of the children's parents serve as the teachers. . Only families with students who have attended failing publicschools that had not improved during a two-year period would qualify forthe tax credit. The total tax credit would be capped at $2,500. "With tax credits valued at $3.5 billion over five years, thisnew program will offer families of students currently trapped in failingpublic schools a refundable tax credit," asserts a Department ofEducation statement. The proposed program is Bush's second attempt to include somemonetary reimbursement for private education in federal educationlegislation. He pushed for a school voucher A school voucher, also called an education voucher, is a certificate by which parents are given the ability to pay for the education of their children at a school of their choice, rather than the public school (UK state school) to which they were assigned. program as part of the NoChild Left Behind Act The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-110), commonly known as NCLB (IPA: /ˈnɪkəlbiː/), is a United States federal law that was passed in the House of Representatives on May 23, 2001 , but Congress rejected the idea. If accepted by lawmakers, the tuition tax credit program would beadministered through the Department of Treasury, not the Department ofEducation. In comments to the media, U.S. Rep. John Boehner, (R-Ohio), asupporter of the measure, said this would give the disadvantaged a shotat better education--something the affluent already have. Critics characterize the tuition tax plan as a back-door voucherplan. "We recognize the important role that private and parochialschools parochial school(pərō`kēəl), school supported by a religious body. In the United States such schools are maintained by a number of religious groups, including Lutherans, Seventh-day Adventists, Orthodox Jews, Muslims, and play in our educational system, and the right of parents to sendtheir children to these schools, but not with funds diverted fromtraditional public schools," says Gerald Tirozzi, executivedirector of the National Association of Secondary School Principals The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) is a United States educational advocacy organization consisting of secondary school principals. To promote excellence among middle school and high school students, NASSP founded and still sponsors the National Honor . Hisorganization represents those who work in public and private schools."We are opposed to any form of vouchers, whether they are callededucation savings accounts Savings AccountA deposit account intended for funds that are expected to stay in for the short term. A savings account offers lower returns than the market rates.Notes: , charitable choice Charitable choice refers to direct government funding of religious organizations to provide social services. Created in 1996, charitable choice allows government officials to purchase services from religious providers using Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), or tuition taxcredits." The 2003 proposed education budget also includes funding forprograms the administration is calling "expanded options forparents." * $200 million for charter schools, with money to be used forexisting schools and new school development * $100 million for a new Credit Enhancement Credit EnhancementA method whereby a company attempts to improve its debt or credit worthiness.Notes:Credit enhancements take many different forms. An example of a credit enhancement would be conversion rights added on to a debt instrument in order to lower the issuing for Charter SchoolFacilities program that would help with acquiring, leasing andrenovating buildings * $50 million for a New Choice Demonstration Fund, to supportresearch on parent choice options in public and private school sectors * $25 million for Voluntary Public School Choice grants toencourage states and districts to set up or expand public school choiceprograms. The total $56.5 billion proposed budget, if passed, would increasefederal education spending by 2.8 percent above 2002. U.S. Sen. TedKennedy For other persons named Ted Kennedy, see Ted Kennedy (disambiguation).Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy (born February 22, 1932) is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. (D-Mass.), who worked closely with Bush to pass No Child LeftBehind, complained that the total is not high enough to continueeducation reform. Bush has stated that his overall budget priorities for2003 will be military programs, domestic security and education. Other Budget Breakdowns * $11.4 billion for Title I grants to local education agencies, a9.7 percent increase from last year * $2.85 billion for Improving Teacher Quality State Grants * $8.5 billion for special education grants to states, a 13 percentincrease from this year's total * $2.6 billion for vocational rehabilitation Noun 1. vocational rehabilitation - providing training in a specific trade with the aim of gaining employmentrehabilitation - the restoration of someone to a useful place in society state grants, anincrease of 5.4 percent from this year's budget total * $1 billion for Reading First, a program initiated with the 2002budget to improve reading instruction for K-3 students, a 11 percentincrease from last year's allocation * $665 million for English Language English language,member of the West Germanic group of the Germanic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Germanic languages). Spoken by about 470 million people throughout the world, English is the official language of about 45 nations. Acquisition, a grant program tohelp English as a Second Language students.