President Bush used the majority of Monday's State of the Union address to talk about issues in the economy, congressional earmarks and national security.
But he did not forget about education entirely, declaring with all the nuance and complexity we've come to expect from him: "In neighborhoods across our country, there are boys and girls with dreams. And a decent education is their only hope of achieving them."
This facile, hollow pronouncement demonstrates the low priority his administration has placed on education. The president's own policies and actions have actually made getting a "decent education" more difficult for a large number of Americans.
Bush used a deliberate point-counterpoint strategy to underscore the progress and problems faced by the nation, admitting the economy was "undergoing a period of uncertainty" before quickly pointing out that the total number of jobs in America has increased for 52 straight months.
His words and actions concerning education follow a similarly contradictory pattern.
Last night, the president praised the Federal Pell Grant Program: "We have seen how Pell Grants help low-income college students realize their full potential," he said. "Together, we've expanded the size and reach of these grants."
But Bush himself vetoed last year's House appropriations bill, declaring it exceeded his budget requests for federal education funds. The bill would have led to a $5-billion increase in education and research funding.
After tense negotiations, a revised bill was eventually passed with substantial cuts made to the budget for education and research. Additionally, a large number of aid programs for low-income students were either cut or frozen at 2007 levels. The maximum Pell Grant, set at $4,310 in 2007, was reduced to $4,241.
These statistics are bad enough on their own, but the discrepancy between Bush's words and actions is actually greater: His original budget proposal cut $900 million from every student aid program besides work study and Pell Grants. Fortunately, Congress rejected the cuts and provided $900 million more than he requested.
Later on in his address, Bush extolled the virtues of medical research, most of which takes place in university settings: "We must trust in the innovative spirit of medical researchers and empower them to discover new treatments while respecting moral boundaries," he said.
Unfortunately, thanks to Bush's veto, programs that give aid to university research also took a hit. The National Institutes of Health, the No. 1 source of funds for university research, will receive $28.94 billion this year, an increase of only 0.04 percent from 2007. Yet the government has estimated the rate of inflation in biomedical research for 2008 at 3.7 percent. The president apparently trusts in the frugality of American researchers as much as their "innovative spirit."
Bush took a strong rhetorical stance against congressional earmarks for pet projects saying, "The people's trust in their government is undermined by congressional earmarks, special interest projects that are often snuck in at the last minute without discussion or debate."
While the president's desire for a better, more frugal government is admirable, it undermines his desire for better and more accessible education and research, as colleges and universities are frequently the recipients of such earmarked dollars.
Finally, the fact remains that the Bush administration has invested the majority of its capital, both political and actual, in its own pet project: the war in Iraq. The war is the special interest project that has done the most damage to the people's trust in their government and has done so at the expense of education, research and the promise they hold for future of this country.
If Bush truly wishes to help America's next generation of young dreamers, he should start putting his money where his mouth is and provide the fiscal backing for the educational enterprises he claims to support.
