Congress fails to override veto on education funding bill
01/08 -- Federal funding for education for fiscal year 2008 remains uncertain after President Bush vetoed the appropriations bill for the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education departments, and the House failed to override the veto -- by just two votes.
The failure to override the veto jeopardizes the funding increase of $2.6 billion for K-12 education already approved by Congress.
NSBA is “deeply disappointed by these shortsighted actions,” said Executive Director Anne L. Bryant. She said the president’s veto “signals an alarming dismissal of the very principles aimed at enhancing student achievement the administration embraced when signing the No Child Left Behind Act into law.”
“We remain hopeful that Congress will reconsider the bill and take another vote to override the veto,” said Deborah Rigsby, NSBA’s director of federal legislation.
However, she added, Congress is more likely to consolidate that bill with other appropriations measures or attempt to renegotiate with the White House.
The difference between the president’s proposed budget and the funding levels in all the appropriations bills is $22 billion. It’s possible that Congress and the president could split the difference, which would mean cutting $11 billion from all the bills, which would likely affect the funding gains for education already approved by Congress.
For Title I, Congress approved $14.3 billion for fiscal year 2008, while the president requested just $13.9 billion. The 2007 level was $12.8 billion.
Congress approved $11.29 billion for special education, compared to the president’s request of $10.49 billion and the 2007 level of $10.78 billion.
In addition, funding increases approved for many other education programs, including school improvement grants, teacher quality grants, and career and technical education, are also jeopardized by the failure to override the veto.
Congress has approved a continuing resolution that allows the government to keep operating -- under current funding levels -- until Dec. 14. If Congress and the president don’t come to an agreement before then, Congress could pass another continuing resolution. Or it could combine all the appropriations bills into one large omnibus bill that may not include the level of funding increases that were in the initial legislation.
During the House debate preceding the vote on the veto, Appropriations Committee Chair Dave Obey (D-Wis.), chair of the House Appropriations Committee, stressed the “severe consequences” if the vote failed and said those who vote against the override “will bear full responsibility for these cuts in essential investments.”
Inadequate federal funding affects every school district in the nation. The Northside Independent School District in San Antonio, Texas, for example, had previously eliminated block scheduling and put off its plans for universal prekindergarden due to declining federal and state funding and the soaring costs of meetings its obligations under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, said board President Katie N. Reed.
The district wants to continue to support high-quality programs, Reed said, but “without the funding that goes along with it, our hands are pretty much tied.”
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