As part of the 2012 budget proposal, President Obama is asking for $77.4 billion for education spending, an increase of $4.5 billion over last year. The funds will go towards teacher training in STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and math), and towards re-writing the 

 bill.
Eighty million dollars will go towards recruiting new teachers in the 

 areas. “Engineering and math, critical thinking, problem solving–these are the kinds of subjects and skills that our kids need to achieve success in the 21st century,” said Obama of the proposal. He is also asking for $900 million for 

.
Of course, Republicans have balked at the request, which comes amid many budget cuts. “Throwing more money at our nation’s broken education system ignores reality and does a disservice to students and taxpayers,” said Congressman John Kline of Minnesota.
However, Race to the Top seems to be having success in its preliminary stages. The next round of Race to the Top funding will by granted at the district level. “There are many districts that were frankly frustrated with the lack of innovation they were seeing at the state level,” said 

Obama Asks for $4.5 Billion Increase in Education Spending