WASHINGTON -- Opposition from unlikely allies -- Democrats and conservative Republicans -- might already have doomed President Bush's $1.5 billion proposal to expand No Child Left Behind standardized testing in the nation's high schools, lawmakers and education experts say.

		Budget effects in state Here's how President Bush's proposed fiscal 2006 education budget would affect some key federally funded programs in Pennsylvania. Eliminated: • Vocational Education State Grants -- $46.5 million this year. • Safe and Drug-Free Schools -- $17.1 million this year. • Educational Technology Grants -- $17.6 million this year. • Comprehensive School Reform -- $7 million this year. • Even Start, an early education program -- $7.4 million this year. Cut back: The Adult Basic Literacy Education State Grants program in Pennsylvania would be cut by 75 percent, to $4.7 million next year from $19.2 million this year. Increased funding: • Special Education -- to $497.7 million from $477 million this year. • Title 1 (for schools in low-income communities) -- to $398.4 million from $386 million this year. • Pell Grants -- to $444 million from $424.2 million this year. New programs: • High School Intervention (for at-risk students) -- $18.1 million. • Teacher Incentive Fund (for teachers whose students show marked improvement) -- $15.2 million. • High School Assessments (to extend No Child Left Behind standardized testing to an additional two grade levels in high school) -- $8.4 million. Source: U.S. Department of Education

Another part of the 2006 education budget proposed by the president on Monday -- saving $4.3 billion by eliminating 48 education programs -- also is receiving a cold reception in Congress, where many of the programs have staunch supporters.

The No Child Left Behind law now requires annual testing of students in grades three through eight and at some point in high school. It sanctions schools where students fail to make adequate progress. The new proposal would mandate testing in grades 9, 10 and 11.

U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said the high school initiative is designed to "restore the value of a high school diploma," by expanding programs intended to help struggling readers and other at-risk students.

Tom Loveless, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, noted that many lawmakers agree high schools need help but disagree on how to provide it.

"I think the high school proposal is in for some rough sledding," he said. "The politics just don't look promising."

Bush's high school proposal has received lukewarm support -- at best -- from key Republicans in charge of education policy on Capitol Hill, and it has drawn strenuous opposition from both Democrats and conservative Republicans.

Rep. Mike Castle, R-Del., chairman of the House education reform subcommittee, said he supports the plan but acknowledges the votes are "not there'' to pass it.

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn, chairman of the Senate education and early childhood subcommittee, said he wants to look first at how No Child Left Behind is working in lower grade levels "so we can avoid any mistakes when we consider going on into high school."

Given this tepid level of support, Democrats and conservative Republicans who dislike the proposal for very different reasons could act together to block it in Congress.

Democrats and teachers' groups want to see more spending on the current No Child Left Behind law, which they claim has been underfunded by nearly $40 billion since its passage in 2001. Instead of expanding the law, they argue, Bush should first ensure that elementary and middle schools get enough money to fully implement it.

On the other hand, a number of conservative Republicans, heirs to those who fought during the Reagan administration to abolish the Department of Education, adamantly oppose expanding the federal role in education. They didn't like Bush's original No Child Left Behind initiative and would prefer to simply cut the $1.5 billion he now proposes to broaden the program.

Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., a leader of House conservatives, said "No Child Left Behind-2," is "taking water and listing badly ... There is a great deal of resistance to an expanded federal role in education."

But the president may win one key education battle this year. Education analysts and legislators say an overall reduction in federal education spending, which would be the first in a decade, could win congressional approval due to mounting federal deficits. As a result, Congress likely will focus on how federal dollars should be spent, rather than on new programs like the high school initiative.

"My guess is that the president's bottom line number of $56 billion for the Department of Education will pretty much come to pass. They'll just move the deck chairs around,'' said Bruce Hunter, a veteran policy official with the American Association of School Administrators.

Michael Franc, a political expert with the conservative Heritage Foundation, agreed that the prospects for an overall reduction in education spending are much better than for Bush's high school initiative or his effort to eliminate dozens of programs.

That's especially true if Congress employs a "reconciliation bill,'' which is designed to force budget discipline on congressional committees, Franc said. "Members are getting spooked about the long-term budget trend,'' including a record projected deficit of $427 billion this year, Franc said. "If there is a reconciliation bill, at a minimum the prospects for the president's bottom line number on education goes up.''

Bush has attempted to appease conservatives like Pence by combining his high school initiative with the first overall reduction in federal education funding in a decade. His 2006 budget calls for spending $56 billion, 1 percent less than this year, which represents a major shift from steady increases each year during Bush's first term.

Bush also called for eliminating 48 programs, including vocational, counseling, foreign language and the Safe and Drug Free Schools programs.

Krista Kafer of the Heritage Foundation argued that it is highly unlikely that most -- if any -- of the 48 programs will be eliminated. She noted that many of them have been put on the chopping block in previous years, only to be saved by powerful congressional constituents.

"In the end, I think there just isn't the kind of courage to make the changes that are necessary," Kafer said