A Washington Update
Budget Battles — Round One
For the last several weeks, the focus of work and concern in Washington,
DC, has been the passage of the fiscal year 2011 federal budget and
the threat of a Federal government shutdown. With their backs against
the wall, congressional leadership and President Obama cut a deal to
finalize the budget for FY 2011, although there are only five months
left in the current fiscal year. The next hurdle is the FY 2012 budget.
And this too will be a dogfight, but the fight will be coupled with the
battle over the extension of the country’s debt ceiling that needs to be
raised by the middle of May or the nation technically goes into
default.
On Thursday, April 14, the House passed HR 1473, the Department of
Defense and Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, which keeps
the government running through the end of September and cuts $38.5B in federal spending. The bill passed the House on a bipartisan
260-to-167 vote, with 179 Republicans and 81 Democrats voting in favor;
59 Republicans and 108 Democrats opposed the measure. The Senate passed
it with a vote of 81 to 19 with 3 Democrats, 15 Republicans and 1
Independent voting against the bill. President Obama signed the budget
bill on Friday, April 15, as the current continuing resolution expired
and a shutdown was averted.
On Friday, April 15, the House passed the FY 2012 budget plan written by
Congressman Paul Ryan (WI) who chairs the House Budget Committee. The
vote was 235-193 with four Republicans voting with the Democrats. Next
up is the Senate, but it is unlikely to pass this bill. Of note, this is
not an appropriations bill but a blueprint usually drafted by the party
in the majority in the House for the upcoming fiscal year and beyond.
This year’s blueprint includes the House Republican strategy to reduce
the budget deficit over the next several years.
The following is an initial summary of program cuts, eliminations,
increases, and policy changes made to the FY 2011 budget. Until the U.S.
Department of Education releases its table that shows the official
interpretation of the continuing appropriation, the following numbers
are subject to change and may not be complete.
The text has been posted on the
House and
Senate
appropriations Websites. The Education section begins on page 325.
Also, it should be noted that all programs are subject to a 0.2 percent
across-the-board cut, which is not reflected in the numbers below.
Many programs were not spared the “budget ax” including some favorites
of members of Congress and the administration. ESEA Title I and IDEA
were not touched.
Program increases:
- Race to The Top gets $700M. It appears these funds will go to
states, not LEAs. It adds a new provision to the program by allowing
funds to go to states for what essentially is the administration's Early
Learning Challenge Fund (see pages 328-329)
- Investing in Innovation gets $150M
- Promise Neighborhoods gets a total of $30M ($20M increase)
Program cuts and eliminations (amount a program was cut and status):
- ESEA evaluation -$1M
- School Improvement Grants -$10M
- Striving Readers -$250M (eliminated)
- Even Start -$66.5M (eliminated)
- Literacy Through School Libraries -$19.1M (eliminated)
- Education technology state grants -$100M (eliminated)
- Arts in Education -$40M (eliminated)
- Exchanges with Historic Whaling and Trading Partners -$8.8M (eliminated)
- National Writing Project -$25.6M (eliminated)
- Reading is Fundamental -$24.8M (eliminated)
- Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Program -$7.5M (eliminated)
- State Assessments -$20M
- Comprehensive Centers -$5M
- Teacher Quality State Grants -$5M (earmark for New Leaders for New Schools)
- National Board for Professional Teaching Standards -$10.6M (eliminated)
- Close-up Fellowships -$1.9M (eliminated)
- Teach for America -$18M (eliminated)
- Teaching of Traditional American History -$73M
- Grants to gulf coast states' LEAs -$12M (eliminated)
- Safe and Drug-Free Schools National Programs -$97M
- English Language Acquisition State Grants -$15M
- Special Olympics -$8.1M (eliminated)
- Recordings for the Blind -$13.3M
- FIE projects (Earmarks) -$88M
- Smaller Learning Communities -$88M (eliminated)
- Training for Incarcerated Individuals -$17.2M (eliminated)
- LEAP -$63.9M (eliminated)
- Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants -$20M
-
TRIO -$25M
- GEAR UP -$20M
- Byrd scholarships -$42M (eliminated)
- Strengthening Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions -$15.1M (eliminated)
- Tribally Controlled Postsecondary Vocational Institutions -$8.2M (eliminated)
- Higher Education Demonstration Projects for Persons with Disabilities -$6.8M (eliminated)
- Thurgood Marshall Legal Scholarships -$3M (eliminated)
- B.J. Stupak Olympic Scholarship -$1M (eliminated)
- Underground Railroad program -$1.9M (eliminated)
- B.A. and Master’s STEM Foreign Language Teacher Training -$2.2M (eliminated)
- Javits Fellowships -$1.6M
- FIPSE -$101.5M (earmarks)
- Emma Byrd Scholarships -$1.5M (eliminated)
- Regional Education Labs -$13M
There will be a new one percent competitive set-aside ($29.4M)
within the Teacher Quality State Grants program so groups such as Teach
for America, National Writing Project and the National Board of
Professional Teaching Standards will be eligible to compete for funding
after their earmark funding was eliminated.
The section on the DC voucher program starts on page 425.
The Pell maximum award is maintained at $5,550 and $23.002B is appropriated. For Pell its assumptions are:
- Limit Pell grants to six years (12 semesters)
- Eliminate College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 [CCRAA]
provisions, such as the expansions of the level at which a student
qualifies for an automatic zero '”Expected Family Contribution” [EFC]
and the income protection allowance
- Eliminate administrative fees paid to participating institutions
- Consider a maximum income cap
- Eliminate eligibility for less-than-half-time students
- Terminate eligibility for those who currently receive the minimum award
- Lower the maximum award (apparently to pre-ARRA levels)
However, according to a CBO analysis of HR 1473, in the end only $352M was in deficit reduction in this budget deal. Is it always smoke
and mirrors? “About $8B in immediate cuts to domestic programs
and foreign aid are offset by nearly equal increases in defense
spending, and when war funding is factored in, the deal actually
increases spending by $3.3B. The numbers show how hard it is to
reduce the deficit quickly, even when both sides say it is their goal”
(
Washington Post).
Frederick (Fritz) S. Edelstein, Ph.D. is a principal in Public
Private Action, LLC. Fritz works with clients on strategic government
and constituent relations, advocacy research and policy analysis,
strategic planning and resource development, and advocacy, outreach, and
public engagement. He writes and disseminates “Fritzwire,” the nation’s
leading Internet newsletter on education that provides timely education
and related information, five days a week. His career includes time
working at the U.S. Conference of Mayors, U.S. Department of Education,
and the National Alliance of Business. Fritz earned is B.A. from
Washington University, and a M.Ed. and Ph.D. from the University of
Nebraska, Lincoln.