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U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan鈥檚 selection as the Republican vice-presidential candidate could spark a national debate about the future of education spending, an issue that鈥檚 gotten short shrift in the presidential campaign so far.

As the two national party conventions approach, Democrats are already charging that the Wisconsin lawmaker鈥檚 controversial budget blueprint, which presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney has largely endorsed, would scale back college financial aid and slash other funding for education.

Rep. Ryan鈥檚 plan seeks to put the nation on a firmer financial footing in part by dramatically curbing domestic spending. But it also sets up a clear contrast with the record of President Barack Obama, who has pumped unprecedented sums of money into education programs. That record is due in large part to the big, but time-limited, infusion of money through the 2009 economic-stimulus package.

鈥淗aving Ryan on the ticket really forces a discussion: Do we think the federal government has a role in propping up education spending in the face of cutbacks, or do we think that鈥檚 better placed in the hands of district and state officials?鈥� said Arnold Shober, who has studied politics and education as an assistant professor of government at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis.

Mr. Romney鈥檚 choice of Rep. Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, for the No. 2 spot on the ticket means that the seven-term congressman鈥檚 fiscal plan is likely to get a lot of airtime at both national conventions. The Republicans will gather next week in Tampa, Fla., to nominate Mr. Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, for president. The Democrats will convene in Charlotte, N.C., the first week in September to again select Mr. Obama as their standard-bearer.

鈥楧isastrous鈥� Impact?

Mr. Ryan鈥檚 budget plan would significantly slash domestic discretionary spending, a broad category that includes education, health, environmental, public-safety, and other programs. Taken as a whole, those programs could be cut by as much as 22 percent in fiscal year 2014, according to an analysis by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington organization that analyzes the effect of government policies on low- and moderate-income Americans.

The House of Representatives initially passed the plan in April 2011 by a vote of 235-193, with no Democratic support. A second vote this year on a similar proposal yielded similar results. The plan aims to cut spending by more than $5 trillion over the next decade, relative to the Obama administration鈥檚 budget blueprint, while reducing tax rates, according to an analysis by the House Budget Committee.

It also seeks big changes to rein in spending on entitlement programs, including Medicare, while at the same time seeking to protect the Pentagon from big cuts, the Budget Committee鈥檚 analysis says.

Under the Ryan plan, the federal budget would show a slight surplus in 2040, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

The plan, which failed to pass last year in the Democratic-controlled Senate, where it received support from most Republicans, calls for getting rid of 鈥渄uplicative鈥� K-12 programs, but doesn鈥檛 specify which ones would be scrapped.

It鈥檚 hard to say just how key education programs鈥攕uch as Title I grants to help school districts cover the cost of educating disadvantaged students鈥攚ould fare under the Ryan plan, since the broad budget blueprint doesn鈥檛 include a program-by-program breakdown of education spending.

But that hasn鈥檛 stopped the Obama administration from trying to attach eye-popping numbers to the potential cuts.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in testimony before a House panel in March that the Ryan budget would have a 鈥渄isastrous鈥� impact on K-12 funding. For instance, he said, the Title I program, which is now funded at $14.5 billion, could be cut by as much as $2.7 billion.

And just hours after Mr. Romney鈥檚 Aug. 11 announcement of his choice of a running mate, the Obama campaign released a statement saying that Rep. Ryan鈥檚 budget would make 鈥渄eep cuts鈥� in education from early childhood to college.

Mr. Obama, for his part, signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act the month after he took office in 2009. The stimulus measure provided about $100 billion for education programs, the largest boost in history. In the summer of 2010, with Democrats still in control of both houses of Congress, the administration pushed for鈥攁nd got鈥攁n additional $10 billion to help stave off education job losses.

Earlier this year, the president also asked Congress for $55 billion to avert teacher layoffs and fix up schools, but the proposal failed to garner sufficient support.

Martin West, who serves as one of the Romney campaign鈥檚 co-chairs on K-12 issues, thinks that the increased education spending could actually be an electoral liability for President Obama.

鈥淭he vast majority of that funding has gone into maintaining the status quo,鈥� said Mr. West, an assistant professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

But Patrick Riccards, who has worked on a number of Democratic congressional campaigns, said Rep. Ryan鈥檚 selection as Mr. Romney鈥檚 running mate will give educators鈥攚ho have clashed with Mr. Obama on such issues as basing teacher evaluations in part on student test scores鈥攁 reason to turn out for the president in the fall.

鈥淚 think there鈥檚 no question that this is going to help him with the part of his base that deals with education,鈥� said Mr. Riccards, who is now the executive director of the Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now, an advocacy group based in New Haven.

Even though Rep. Ryan鈥檚 budget plan doesn鈥檛 include specific levels for education spending, Mr. Riccards expects that Obama supporters will contend that Mr. Romney and Mr. Ryan want to get rid of the U.S. Department of Education.

鈥淐ampaigns are not doctoral theses. You don鈥檛 have to have incontrovertible proof. 鈥�. It鈥檚 not that large of a rhetorical leap, if you look at the cuts he鈥檚 proposing, that he wants to put 400 Maryland Avenue out of business,鈥� he said, referring to the address of the U.S. Education Department.

Mr. Romney has said that he鈥檇 like to significantly shrink the Education Department, but has stopped short of calling for eliminating it.

Pell Grant Debate

Already, the Ryan pick has put education more into focus in the race鈥攁nd into campaign ads.

Soon after the selection, the Obama campaign released a television ad highlighting the cuts to higher education spending that are included in the Ryan budget plan.

Mr. Ryan鈥檚 proposal would make big changes to the Pell Grant program, which would ultimately result in fewer students鈥� meeting the eligibility requirements of those grants for low-income college students. It would also eliminate interest-free benefits on subsidized Stafford Loans, according to an analysis by the New America Foundation, a think tank in Washington.

The Obama campaign ad doesn鈥檛 go into all those specifics. But it accuses Mr. Romney of seeking to 鈥渃ut college aid for nearly 10 million students.鈥� And it points to the administration鈥檚 record on higher education, including the successful push to eliminate the Federal Family Education Loan Program, which relied on subsidized private lenders to make loans to students.

Mr. Shober, the Lawrence University professor, expects to hear more attacks along those lines from the Obama campaign.

鈥淩yan is perhaps a vulnerability on that score,鈥� Mr. Shober said. The congressman鈥檚 budget, he said, 鈥渨ill not garner the good will of 20-year-olds who are deeply in debt.鈥�

But Jason Delisle, the director of the New America Foundation鈥檚 education budget project, gave Mr. Ryan high marks for acknowledging long-term sustainability problems with the Pell Grant program, even if his solutions aren鈥檛 as clear as they could be. The Pell Grant program has grown quickly in recent years, in part because Congress increased the size of the maximum grant when Democrats took control of Congress in 2007, and in part because there has been much higher demand for the grants during the economic slowdown.

The Economy Dominates

Mr. Delisle said the vague nature of a budget blueprint will make it harder for Democrats to go after Rep. Ryan on specific spending cuts.

鈥淎ll they can say is 鈥榊ou鈥檙e going to put downward pressure on the future funding for these programs,鈥� 鈥� said Mr. Delisle, who worked as an aide to then-Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., when he served as the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 make for a great sound bite.鈥�

No matter who wins in November, fiscal issues are likely to take center stage later this year. Shortly after the elections, Congress is expected to return to Washington to tackle significant long-term deficit issues in a lame-duck session, including whether to avert across-the-board trigger cuts known as 鈥渟equestration.鈥� (Advocates Raise Concerns on Looming 鈥楽equester鈥� Cuts, Aug. 8, 2012.)

The cuts, which were put in place last summer as part of a deal to raise the federal debt ceiling, could mean a 7.8 percent reduction to a host of military and domestic programs, including education.

President Obama鈥檚 budget proposal for fiscal year 2013 seeks to avert some of the cuts through a mix of other spending reductions and tax increases.

Mr. Romney has said that if he鈥檚 elected, he鈥檇 like Congress to come up with a short-term deal on the cuts so that he could help lawmakers craft a long-term plan for the nation鈥檚 fiscal future after taking office in January. By making Rep. Ryan his vice-presidential choice, Mr. Romney appears to be sending a major signal about where he鈥檇 like those budget talks to go.

President Obama鈥檚 first term has seen some major developments on K-12 policy鈥攊ncluding the Obama administration鈥檚 Race to the Top program, which encouraged states to embrace controversial new teacher-evaluation systems, charter schools, higher academic standards, and dramatic interventions for the lowest-performing schools. But there鈥檚 been little discussion of his education record on the campaign trail.

鈥淚 think with the economy the way it is, that will continue to be the primary issue,鈥� said Craig Jerald, an independent consultant who served as the policy director of Ed in 鈥�08, a Washington-based nonpartisan campaign to make education a top issue in the 2008 presidential race. 鈥淚 would be shocked if it got much play at either of the conventions. 鈥�. The candidates need to check the box, but they鈥檙e not really going to give it much weight.鈥�

Mr. Romney unveiled his own education proposal earlier this summer, including a plan to allow parents of special education and disadvantaged students to take their federal aid to the school or program of their choice, including a private or religious school. But he鈥檚 been virtually silent on K-12 policy since then.

Policy Record

Rep. Ryan doesn鈥檛 have a long record on education policy, but his recent stances are aligned with those of most other House Republicans. As a junior member of Congress in 2001, he voted for the No Child Left Behind Act, which passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.

But since then, he鈥檚 changed his mind about the federal accountability system at the heart of the law. He has become a co-sponsor of the A-Plus Act, which would allow states to opt out of many of the mandates of the NCLB law, as long as they agreed to show student-achievement gains.

David Parr, the president of the Janesville Education Association, a 735-member union in Rep. Ryan鈥檚 Wisconsin hometown and congressional district, described the congressman as 鈥渧ery polite and approachable.鈥� Rep. Ryan has helped students from Janesville, including Mr. Parr鈥檚 own children, with public policy research projects, he said.

But Mr. Parr, a teacher at Janesville Virtual Academy, an online public school, is not a fan of Rep. Ryan鈥檚 budget proposal.

鈥淗e鈥檚 not anti-education,鈥� Mr. Parr said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 just anti-paying-for-it.鈥�