Dive Summary:

• President Barack Obama's $3.8 trillion budget proposal, unveiled Wednesday, would give the Department of Education $71.2 billion in discretionary spending for fiscal 2014, up 4.5% from pre-sequester funding.
• The increase in funding won't add to the deficit due to other offsets, which include, for example, new cigarette taxes to subsidize Preschool for All, which will cost $75 billion over 10 years and an additional $750 million in fiscal 2014 for states not ready to expand pre-K.
• Additional items include a $1 billion Race to the Top competition for higher education, $14.5 billion for Title I, $11.6 billion for special education IDEA grants and $8 billion to fund partnerships between community colleges and businesses.

From the article:

... Obama “understands that the stubborn opportunity gap that confronts far too many American children ... often begins before they even enter school,” said Education Secretary Arne Duncan in a press call Wednesday. The preschool proposal, he said, “would constitute the largest expansion of educational opportunity in the 21st century ... and will also pay huge dividends down the road.” ...