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The ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Deal and Education Spending
posted by: Ruthie | January 03, 2013, 09:09 PM   

Following an eventful holiday season, yesterday President Obama signed legislation designed to avoid the "fiscal cliff" and prevent automatic spending cuts across all government agencies. The measure was passed just in time to delay the cuts until March. Federal education programs will be spared from deep cuts, but only temporarily.

While this postponement will provide lawmakers with more time to figure out the details of sequestration, or automatic cuts, it also prolongs inevitable large-scale budget cuts to all agencies. Many of these automatic cuts will have major effects on federal education programs.

If lawmakers do not settle on a budget by the end of March, the federal government could be shut down. To make matters worse, the nation has hit the federal debt ceiling yet again, meaning that Congress will need to pass new legislation to borrow more money and keep agencies and programs in operation.

This situation leaves states, school districts, education advocates, and the Department of Education uncertain about the future. While specifics regarding programs remain in the dark, the reported 8.2% cut government wide will clearly have an impact on education funding.

This latest deal is "sort of like a temporary stay of execution," said Joel Packer, executive director of the Committee for Education Funding. "We're hoping we get pardoned. .... It just creates sort of another cliff two months from now."

If these cuts do indeed go through in March, schools will not feel the impact until the 2013- 2014 school year. This small window will allow schools to prepare for how to best approach the budget cuts, without sacrificing results for students. However, despite a deal in the future, the Head Start preschool program for low-income students will be immediately cut.

Regardless of when and how sequestration actually plays out, it is clear that Congress will be very busy as they navigate the troubled waters of America's fiscal policies. With lawmakers tied up with the debate over priorities, education initiatives such as programs governing special education, community development grants, higher education, career and technical education, work force development, and a reauthorization of No Child Left Behind could be stalled for quite some time.

How do you think U.S. schools will prepare for looming budget cuts?

Comment below.



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