Federal Education Programs Brace for Coming Congressional Budget
Fights
By Diana Epstein | February 9, 2011
This year's federal budget process in Washington promises to be even
more divisive than usual as a split Congress struggles to tackle both
the need to keep the government funded and the looming federal
deficit. Furthermore, lawmakers are actually dealing with two budgets
simultaneously—one for the remainder of fiscal year 2011, which ends
in September of this year, and one for the FY2012 budget beginning in
October. President Barack Obama plans to release his FY2012 budget
during the week of February 14 and Republicans have indicated they
will roll out their plan for a new FY2011 "continuing resolution" to
fund the government for the rest of this fiscal year that week as
well.
Federal investment in education hangs in the balance.
House Republicans, led by Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI),
propose to cut $32 billion from the federal budget for the remainder
of this fiscal year. Since the government is currently operating under
a continuing resolution that expires March 4, these proposed cuts
would take place over only a seven-month period. Rep. Ryan wants to
increase security- and defense-related spending by almost $8 billion
above current levels, which means that cuts to nonsecurity agencies
such as education would total more than $42 billion. Moreover, his
proposed budget for FY2011 would be $32 billion less than current
spending levels but $74 billion less than what the president had
originally requested.
The upshot: Spending for education, labor, and health and human
services would be 4 percent less than 2010 levels and 8 percent less
than the president's original request, according to the information
announced by the chair of the House Appropriations committee last
week.
This approach runs directly counter to the Obama administration's
plans to invest in education to ensure our workforce remains
competitive in the 21st century. In his State of the Union address,
the president made clear that he favors strong continued funding for
education. And investing in education is without a doubt the key to
economic growth and American competitiveness. Nonetheless, the
Republicans' plans have budget cuts falling disproportionately on
education and health programs because entitlements and defense
spending are largely protected. So let's examine what they propose to
cut.
Republican plans to cut critical education funding
As the proposals below illustrate, conservative Republicans are
arguing for even bigger cuts—up to $100 billion—for FY2011 and then
further cuts in the FY2012 budget. This would likely entail
significant cuts to federal education programs. If enacted, these
proposals would make it far more difficult to effectively educate this
generation of American children.
The Republican Study Committee proposal—the Spending Reduction Act of
2011—would reduce federal spending by $2.5 trillion over 10 years. The
plan cuts FY 2011 nonsecurity, nondefense, and nonveterans
discretionary spending to FY 2008 levels; cuts nondefense
discretionary spending to FY 2006 levels for FY2012–FY2021; eliminates
all remaining stimulus funding; and eliminates or dramatically scales
back more than 100 other programs. This includes eliminating 68
federal education programs run by the Departments of Education, Labor,
and Health and Human Services; the Environmental Protection Agency;
and other federal agencies.
Provisions governing federal education programs would be repealed in
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Early Learning
Opportunities Act, parts of the Higher Education Act, and others.
While some of these programs should be eliminated because they are
outdated or ineffective, other programs serve valuable purposes and
should be consolidated or reformed. Rather than simply cutting
education funding as the RSC recommends, these funds should be
redirected and targeted at efforts that reflect current priorities and
have demonstrated results.
Rep. Ryan put forth an alternate budget in 2008 (further revised last
year) entitled "A Roadmap for America's Future." The Roadmap's most
detailed recommendations are for Medicare, Medicaid, and Social
Security, but the plan also assumes that nondefense discretionary
spending would be frozen at nominal 2009 levels from 2010 through
2019. Beginning in 2020, spending in all areas except Social Security,
Medicare, Medicaid, and net interest would grow at the rate of
inflation plus 0.7 percentage points. Ryan's plan also rescinds all
unobligated stimulus funding. Freezing spending at these levels would
not provide the investment in education that is needed in order to
improve student achievement and produce the American workforce of the
future.
Then there is the plan from Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY). He released a
budget proposal last month that would cut $500 billion from the
federal budget in one year. In spite of holding a seat on the Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions committee, Sen. Paul put forth a plan
that would cut funding to the Department of Education by 83 percent,
to only $16.245 billion. Paul's plan preserves only Pell Grants, which
means that critical funding for elementary and secondary education
would be eliminated. Among other cuts, districts and schools serving a
high percentage of low-income children would no longer receive Title I
supplemental funding, and states would no longer receive Title II
money to improve teacher and principal quality.
Why these cuts are so destructive
Any of these proposed cuts to education would be quite harmful. First
of all, continued investment in education is critical in order to put
our economy on the path to sustained growth. Second, a reduction in
federal support for education would take resources away from
critically important programs at a time when states are also making
significant cuts. Third, federal education programs provide more
equitable resources for students who need it most—without federal
support, many hard-fought gains would erode for children living in
poverty.
Fortunately, the American people simply will not support cuts of this
magnitude in education. A recent USA Today/Gallup poll asked Americans
whether they favor or oppose cuts in government spending in a number
of areas. Two-thirds opposed cuts in education, opposition greater
than any other area including Social Security, Medicare, and national
defense. This public sentiment holds up even when Americans are given
a choice between reducing the federal budget deficit or preventing
cuts to government programs. When asked whether it was more important
to reduce the deficit or prevent cuts in education, respondents to a
recent CNN poll chose to preserve education by a margin of 75 percent
to 25 percent.
With power split between the two political parties, this year's budget
process will inevitably result in a series of compromises. The
proposed plans for cuts to education represent one end of the spectrum
from which bargaining will begin. It is true that our country faces
tough decisions ahead but our children's future is not a matter fit
for negotiation.
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/02/education_cuts.html
No comments:
Post a Comment