Secretary Duncan reads Politico, too, and at today’s presser forcefully pushes back ($) on this morning’s story implying the administration isn’t committed on the $23 billion for education. He made the same points at a lunch in DC today, too.
Update: More Politico: Some Department of Ed – OMB tension over the education components of the bill.
Update II: Guess that’s settled:
Statement from White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs (5/27 and the link is mine):
“As the House prepares to vote on the emergency spending bill today, communities across this country are facing an education crisis with hundreds of thousands of teachers at all levels at risk of losing their jobs. The President shares the concern of millions of Americans that cuts to state and local budgets are forcing states and localities to cut education spending drastically, impacting the learning and growth of our nation’s children. While some states may not feel the impact yet, there are thousands of teachers who will receive pink slips in the coming months. The President strongly supports targeted aid focused on preventing these teacher layoffs in order to stem the education crisis.”