Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) has announced the fiscal year 2009 Labor, Health and Human Services and Education spending bill, which includes $3.8 million in funding for several high-priority Maryland education initiatives, has passed the full Appropriations Committee.
The spending bill provides $16.9 billion for Pell Grants. The funding will help increase Pell Grants to $4,800 per student per year, up from $4,731 per year last year. This is combined with funding provided by the College Cost Reduction and Access Act that Congress passed in September 2007.
The bill includes $11.4 billion for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which provides early intervention, special education and related services to more than 6.7 million eligible infants, toddlers, children and young adults with disabilities, including over 100,000 students in Maryland.
Additional funds in the bill include $7.1 billion for Head Start, $1 billion for 21st Century Community Learning Centers, $267 million for Educational Technology State Grants to help schools update and purchase technologies for classrooms, $7.4 million for the Javits Gifted and Talented Students program and funding for service programs nationwide. The spending bill includes $271 million for AmeriCorps.
In the next step of the appropriations process, the bill will move to the Senate floor for a vote, which has not yet been scheduled.