With respect to the budget agreement announced yesterday, information is trickling out. Here are some numbers that may be of interest: Both the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities will receive level funding for 1999 (i.e., neither an increase nor a decrease). The Office of Museum Services within IMLS receives a very small increase (about $100,000) to cover administrative expenses. The Informal Science Education program at the National Science Foundation, as we reported previously, will get an increase from $36 million to $46 million. As has happened in previous years, the Department of Education will receive large increases in several programs of interest to museums: The after-school program, which is just one year old, will quintuple from $40 million to $200 million. The first round of grants was announced a few months ago and we have established that proposals that included museums did well. (The grant is to school districts, but they are encouraged to have community partners. We have found that one successful model is for the museum to co-write the grant proposal.) The official name of this program is the 21st Century Community Learning Centers. Title I, which is the largest federal education program, will receive an increase of $301 million, to a total of $7.676 billion. This money goes to school districts, which are free to use it in many creative ways. For example, it can be used to pay the salary of museum educators. The Charter School program will receive a 25% increase. There is also $260 million for a new literacy initiative. The director of this program has stated that she believes that museums are among the best places to get children excited about reading, so we will look for opportunities for participation. Questions welcome. Andy Finch AAM Government Affairs [log in to unmask]