Bill and Melinda Gates, the world’s leading philanthropists, have called for greater reform and investment in the US education system, a day after the Trump administration released its fiscal proposal advocating significant changes to the education budget.

In their annual letter on Tuesday, the couple addressed their work in reforming education, among other social issues, and the goals they have yet to achieve with their Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

As the top funders of school reform in the US, the Gates family say that of the issues they want to address and, in some cases, have already made progress in, include raising high school graduation rates, improving teaching quality, and setting up mentors to help with the transition to university. Their philanthropic organization has already donated about 450 million US dollars to domestic education initiatives, reports the AP, and plans to spend an estimated 1.7 trillion US dollars over the next five years.

Their advocacy for greater spending overall in education comes after a budget proposal released by the Trump administration highlights drastic cuts and expansions in the sector. 

The US president’s budget request for fiscal year 2019 proposes significant reforms from expanding school choices in primary and secondary education to restructuring financial aid for university students.

The budget aims to give one billion US dollars towards expanding public and private school choices, particularly for low-income students or those attending schools “identified for improvement under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.”

The plan has also requested federal funding of 500 million US dollars for charter schools, which are schools of choice that are typically run by corporations. These are run independently of local districts, and are seen by some as giving students currently attending low-performing public schools access to a better education.

Trump’s team has again proposed the reforms to restructure financial aid for university students, the following of which have remained consistent with the budget proposal from last year, according to Forbes.

If the US president’s budget passes Congress this year, student borrowers who have chosen to repay their loans with a percentage of their income will see their payments per month rise to 12.5 percent of their income from the current 10 percent.

As for loan forgiveness, undergraduate borrowers would have to pay only 15 years, while graduate student borrowers will now have to pay 30 years, compared with the current 20 years for both.   

Subsidized loans, which do not accrue interest while a student is still in college, would also be eliminated.

The administration has given vocal support to vocational training, which is reflected in the proposal’s aim to expand such programs. Trump signed an executive order in June last year with a similar promise to promote apprenticeships, which are a combination of classroom instruction and mentorship in a particular vocation, essentially earning money while learning a trade.

The passage of the budget proposal would need cooperation from the Republican-controlled Congress, but the likelihood of success will depend on whether they will agree with the Trump administration’s policies. A Forbes report states that Trump and House Republicans agree on ending subsidized student loans, but differ on loan forgiveness for graduate students as well as a financial aid program for low- and middle-income college students.  

Although some or most of Trump’s proposed reforms for education might not bear fruit, the spending changes are a sign of his administration’s priorities. There have been substantial cuts in certain areas that the Congressional Budget Office has claimed would save about 100 billion US dollars in the next ten years.

Meanwhile, major economic powers such as China have poured money into the education system at all levels. An official report from China's State Council in 2016 showed that about 480 billion US dollars were allocated to the sector to improve the compulsory education system and focus on rural areas, among others.

The state of US education has long engendered heated debate, but some, such as the Gateses in their annual letter, do not appear discouraged.

“[Being] an optimist isn’t about knowing that life used to be worse. It’s about knowing how life can get better.”