Congress takes up education funding, Medicaid issue
By Ellie Ashford
The Senate approved a supplemental appropriations bill for fiscal year 2008 May 22 that includes two provisions with a significant impact on local school district budgets.
The measure provides $400 million in additional funding for the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act, and it extends the moratorium allowing reimbursements for certain Medicaid costs.
The House plans to take up a supplemental funding bill later this month.
The Secure Rural Schools Act was set to expire in June. It currently provides $229 million to more than 600 rural counties and 4,400 school districts in 42 states as federal payments in lieu of taxes to jurisdictions with federal forest lands. That funding is crucial for school districts with large proportions of non-taxable federal land.
In northern California, for example, the Del Norte County Unified School District has relied on the $900,000 it received annually under this act to maintain school facilities, said school board member Bob Berkowitz. Most recently, the district used the funds for new roofs and boiler plants.
Non-taxable federal and state lands make up 85 percent of the district, including the Smith River National Recreation Area, Six Rivers National Forest, and Redwood National Park. This land is off-limits for timber cutting. “By taking federal forests off the tax rolls and not paying us, it’s like they’re defaulting on that mortgage,” Berkowitz said.
In Alaska, “the loss of $9.4 million among 32 communities in the Tongass and Chugach Forests will only aggravate the shortage of critical school operational funding in communities still struggling to survive,” Carl Rose, executive director of the Association of Alaska School Boards, and AASB President Scott McAdams wrote in a letter to Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska).
The House was scheduled to take up the Public Land Communities Transition Act in early June, which would reauthorize the Secure Rural Schools Act through 2012.
Under the Medicaid program, school districts are reimbursed for certain costs, such as administration and transportation, for students with disabilities who are eligible for Medicaid.
Last year, the Bush administration issued regulations to terminate these reimbursements to schools. At the urging of NSBA and other advocates for public schools, Congress imposed a moratorium to prevent those rules from taking effect until June 30.
The Senate approved an amendment to the supplemental funding bill that extends the moratorium until April 2009. That gives NSBA more time to work with Congress on a permanent solution.
Meanwhile, the House and Senate began consideration of a conference report on the fiscal year 2009 budget resolution, which sets overall spending goals for all federal domestic programs.
The budget resolution calls for an allocation for education, training, employment, and social services for 2009 that is $8.4 million more than the President’s budget request of $79.5 billion for this program area.
The budget resolution sets a blueprint for federal spending. The real work begins when the appropriations committees establish funding amounts for specific programs within that overall framework.
The budget resolution conference report provides additional guidance to the appropriations committees by including “reserve funds” for school repairs and modernization, the Secure Rural Schools Act, continuation of Medicaid reimbursements, and expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.
House Budget Committee Chair John Spratt (D-S.C.) emphasized the importance of education funding. He said, “The agreement makes education and innovation investments that will generate economic growth and jobs, make college more affordable, improve student achievement,” and invest in the nation’s infrastructure, including schools.
NSBA’s top funding goals for 2009 include increases of $2.5 billion each for Title I and special education.
NSBA also urges the appropriations committees to reject President Bush’s proposals to eliminate or cut funding for career and technical education, education technology, and other programs and to oppose any attempt to create or expand private school voucher programs.
Reproduced with permission from School Board News. Copyright © 2008, National School Boards Association. Opinions expressed in this newspaper do not necessarily reflect positions of NSBA. This article may be printed out and photocopied for individual or educational use, provided this copyright notice appears on each copy. This article may not be otherwise transmitted or reproduced in print or electronic form without the consent of the Publisher. For more information, call (703) 838-6789.