Senate Votes to Shift $250-Billion From Tax Cuts to Education Spending

By STEPHEN BURD and JEFFREY BRAINARD

Advocates for education won a significant symbolic victory last week when the Senate agreed to shift $250-billion over the next 10 years from President Bush's proposed $1.6-trillion tax cut to increase spending on Pell Grants and other education programs. The Senate added money for the National Institutes of Health as well.

By a vote of 53 to 47, the chamber approved an amendment to the budget resolution that would raise the maximum Pell Grant by $600, to $4,350. Offered by Sen. Tom