Nanuet School Board: Federal Call to Action

Coming this January, education will receive an “estimated 8.4 percent across-the board cut due to sequestration (budget cuts),” according to the National Education Association. “Education programs ... would face a cut of $4.8 billion in 2013.”

In response to this, the Nanuet School Board passed a resolution last night.

“This is a federal call to action because the Sequestration of Federal Funding for Education is going to happen on Jan. 2, 2013, unless Congress acts,” said Anne Byrne, Nanuet School Board president. “They put a push out to every single school board to pass a resolution. This (will cut) funds for our Title I and IDEA (special education).”

The NEA states that:

• Title I grants would be cut by $1.2 billion
• IDEA (special education) grants would be cut by $973 million
• Head Start funding would be cut by $669 million
• Title II grants for Teacher Quality will be cut $207 million
• After-School and Before-School programs would be cut $97 million

For a look at more education cuts, refer to the PDF attached to this article. Budget Control Act of 2011 includes a provision to impose $1.2 trillion in across-the-board budget cuts to almost all federal programs including education.

“The cuts in the funds are pretty dramatic. Education is going to be a bit slice of (the $1.2 trillion cut),” said Byrne. “We’ve been trying to put across the message that public education is an investment in our future; it’s not an expense. Everything is affected, the very economy is affected.  We keep getting money taken away by the federal government and the state government and then we end up (like this).”

The board passed the following resolution:

WHEREAS, a world class public education is essential for the future success of our nation and today’s school children; and the Budget Control Act of 2011 includes a provision to impose $1.2 trillion in across-the-board budget cuts to almost all federal programs including education that would become effective January 2, 2013;

These across-the-board budget cuts would impact school districts during the 2013-14 school year, with the exception of the Impact Aid program, with which
a reduction would become effective this school year; and these across-the-board budget cuts, also known as sequestration, would impact education by a reduction in funds of 8.2 percent or more and could result in larger class sizes, fewer course offerings, possible four-day school weeks, loss of extracurricular activities, and teacher and staff lay-offs;

Sequestration would impact almost every public school system in the nation and the millions of students educated through programs such as Title I grants for disadvantaged students, the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), English Language Acquisition, Career and Technical Education, 21st Century Community Learning Centers, and more;

Nanuet Union Free School District, as well as other public schools, would be impacted nationwide by an estimated $2.7 billion loss from just three programs alone – Title I grants, IDEA special education state grants and Head Start – that serve a combined 30.7 million children;

Federal funding for K-12 programs was already reduced by more than $835 million in Fiscal Year 2011, and state and local funding for education continues to be impacted by budget cuts and lower local property tax revenues; and
 states and local governments have very limited capacity to absorb further budget cuts from sequestration, as Nanuet Union Free School District has already implemented cuts commensurate to state and local budget conditions;
 

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Nanuet Union Free School District urges Congress and the Administration to amend the Budget Control Act to mitigate the drastic cuts to education that would affect our students and communities, and to protect education as an investment critical to economic stability and American competitiveness.