Congress may reconsider funding bills

No one is quite sure what to predict about next year’s education budget, and any number of scenarios are being bandied about in the nation’s capital. Many political observers say much depends on whether Republicans lose control of one or both houses of Congress.

“My take is that if the Democrats win a victory, they will try to do something about an increased education budget,” said Reginald M. Felton, NSBA’s director of federal programs. “If Republicans manage to keep control, there will be a greater likelihood that federal funding for education next year will be disappointing.”

When Congress adjourned at the end of September, the House and Senate education spending bills had level-funded Title I at $12.7 billion, which is nearly half of what Congress authorized for fiscal 2007 in the No Child Left Behind Act. The House Appropriations Committee recommended a marginal increase to $10.7 billion for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

NSBA strongly opposes both bills in their current form, which, after inflation is taken into account, would actually reduce federal education spending from 2006 levels, Felton said. NSBA is working to build support for favorable amendments to increase funding and launched a Pledge to America’s Schoolchildren campaign asking members of Congress to demonstrate their commitment to education. [Visit www.pledgetoamericas schoolchildren.org.]

No matter how the mid-term elections play out, it’s possible that Congress won’t be able to complete work on the federal education budget, Felton said. As a temporary measure, Congress could approve a continuing resolution that keeps government funding at 2006 levels and hand over the unfinished budget issues to the 110th Congress in January.

Yet, he said, NSBA contends Congress can have a very effective post-election session -- and even reconsider its inadequate funding of education. “We hope that there is recognition that public schools require resources, that Congress is committed to the goals of the No Child Left Behind Act, and that it needs to push for increased funding, regardless of which party will be in control next year.”

One challenge for Congress will be an agreement this fall by House and Senate leaders to shift $5.3 billion from domestic programs to the defense and homeland security budget.

Unless lawmakers agree to raise the cap they set for appropriations, they’ll have to make hard decisions about domestic cuts or, as they’ve done in some previous years, approve across-the-board cuts in spending.

“It’s a huge amount of money,” said Deborah Rigsby, NSBA’s director of federal legislation. “Unfortunately, we think it could affect education spending. So our goal is to make sure we at least maintain funding for education programs and try to secure some increase for Title I and IDEA. These are the major programs that should not suffer cuts. They’re the cornerstone of federal funding for schools.”

With only weeks to work, the House could approve its appropriations bill largely as is, allowing the budget differences with the Senate bill to be worked out by a conference committee, she said. That would make NSBA’s advocacy efforts more challenging.

“It reduces the amount of transparency in the process and reduces our level of influence,” she said, “because we’re dealing with smaller groups of people, behind the scenes and in closed meetings.”

The lame-duck session also could see activity by a bipartisan group of senators led by Sens. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who are pushing a National Competitiveness Investment Act to improve the nation’s standing in the global economy.

The bill includes some funding to improve the training of math, science, and foreign language teachers; expand programs to encourage students to study critical foreign languages; and provide grants to help schools better align elementary and secondary programs to the skills needed for postsecondary education and the workplace.