Press Releases

Washington, DC - The Children's Defense Fund today said the Bush Administration's budget proposals for education and juvenile justice leave out critical resources that could help communities keep at-risk youth out of trouble and put them on a path to success.

"We simply cannot perpetuate this 'school to prison pipeline' that is destroying the lives of young people who have no options that lead to success," said Marian Wright Edelman, President of the Children's Defense Fund. "From Head Start and Title I to after-school programs and dropout prevention, the Bush Administration's budget ignores at-risk youth by failing to provide the resources that could help them make a successful transition to adulthood. Instead, the President's budget takes the shortsighted approach of fueling a fast-track to failure, delinquency, and detention in a juvenile justice system that is funded to prosecute—but not prevent—juvenile crime."

The Bush Administration's proposed funding for education under Title I (education for the disadvantaged) is $7.1 billion below what is needed to fund the President's own No Child Left Behind education bill, which leaves 2.4 million children behind. Funding for special education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is less than half the level that Congress committed to paying when the legislation was adopted in 1975. The budget proposal also underfunds after-school programs by more than $1 billion, denying services to 1.32 million children. A $316 million cut in vocational education funding will keep students from acquiring job skills. Furthermore, 38 programs totaling $1.4 billion have been slashed from the Administration's education budget. Many of these programs are essential to helping young people succeed in school by providing school counselors, focusing on dropout prevention, reducing alcohol abuse, and creating smaller learning environments.

This drastic reduction in critical education services will send more children down the path of failure, suspension, and delinquency and into the juvenile justice system, which has fared equally poorly under this budget. The Juvenile Accountability Block Grants program, a positive and action-oriented program that promotes accountability and community involvement for youth, has been eliminated. Funding for local delinquency and prevention programs is less than half of last year's level. Without these resources, children miss out on critical opportunities to turn their lives around.

The Bush Administration's budget also calls for making tax cuts permanent, which would give each individual millionaire an average of approximately $181,700 each year when fully implemented. That amount of money could provide Head Start for 22 preschoolers, after-school care for 202 children, or jobs for 48 disadvantaged youth.

"Our children are being let down by the very institutions that should be safeguarding their well-being," said Edelman. "The Bush Administration's budget fails young people at critical junctures in their lives. We are condemning America's future by not preparing young people to contribute positively to our society."

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The mission of the Children's Defense Fund is to Leave No Child Behind and to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start, and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities. CDF provides a strong, effective voice for all the children of America who cannot vote, lobby, or speak for themselves. We pay particular attention to the needs of poor and minority children and those with disabilities. CDF educates the nation about the needs of children and encourages preventive investment before they get sick, into trouble, drop out of school, or suffer family breakdown. CDF began in 1973 and is a private, nonprofit organization supported by foundation and corporate grants and individual donations. We have never taken government funds.