After starting with a budget that contained an $8.4 billion increase over the President's FY 09 programmatic funding request for education, training, employment, and social services programs, how did House appropriators come up so short on education funding?

We said we'd work to ensure that a portion of that increase went to education, but judging from the numbers released today by the House education funding subcommittee, our work is far from over.

As school districts face rising student enrollment, increasing fuel and transportation costs, and the task of implementing No Child Left Behind with the minimal resources provided by Congress thus far, today's increases are nominal. With these funding levels, many education programs will receive increases that are less than the inflation rate, essentially amounting to cuts when one factors in today's rising costs. That leaves children behind.

Here are the FY 09 numbers released today by the House education subcommittee:

• $242 million (+3.5 percent) for Head Start, for a total of $7.1 billion
• $665 million (+4.6 percent) for Title I, for a total of $15.1 billion
• $604 million (roughly a 5 percent increase) for IDEA, which despite a promise to fund 40 percent of the program, brings the federal government's share to only 17.5 percent

As this process continues, we will provide more information and ensure that Congress understands that students and educators matter.