The Orbis

Yet another victim of the Bush economic plan, funding for the arts in education has been cut considerably. Because of Bush's unfair tax cuts for the wealthy, the United States is now forced to make up for the large deficit by slashing various programs. Although he ran on a platform that emphasized education, President Bush sadly sees the arts as an expendable part of a child's learning process.

Ignoring experts who have repeatedly justified their value in education, Bush has cut funding for the arts by $30 million for fiscal year 2003. Bush's education funding proposal remains the lowest annual increase since 1996, asking for only a 2.8 percent increase compared to a 15.9 percent increase last year. In fact, he is calling for a total cut of $1.8 billion, cutting 57 valuable educational programs in the process. With so many programs frozen with last year's funding, schools in fact have less money with which to work.

The U.S. Department of Education is not alone in these budget cuts. The newly formed Department of Homeland Security has also suffered cuts, taking a hit close to $one billion.

Bush made a promise by naming his highly publicized bipartisan bill the "No Child Left Behind" Act; this is a promise he has failed to keep. Since the bill went through, there has been a Republican effort to block all funding for the mandates of the bill. By holding schools accountable for funding while they face budget calamities, and by denying federal assistance in the form of funding to education, President Bush has in fact taken away in chance for this bill to succeed.

Unfortunately, one of the biggest losers in Bush's budget has been the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). For fiscal year 2004, he has once again recommended flat funding, while zeroing out any funding toward arts in education.

This move is both shocking and damaging to schools around the country. Not only does it destroy potential jobs, but it also denies children the ability to cultivate skills and creativity. Furthermore, it leaves recently appointed NEA chairman Dana Gioia with little ability to create new programs without phasing out or reducing funding to current projects. Organizations such as the NEA greatly rely on annual budget increases in order to expand their work to benefit more people.

The omnibus appropriations bill for fiscal year 2003 is still being debated in the Senate, which includes limited funding for education. However, what little funding schools receive is being diverted away from the arts. The NEA has been especially worried by Bush's elimination of programs and the further diversion of funding to refundable tax credits for private and religious school expenses.

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