Federal Education Funding

For information on the upcoming, automatic, across-the-board budget cuts, known as sequestration, please visit the Sequestration Resource Page.

NAESP believes that improving our education system is critical to the future well-being of our nation. Investing in education strengthens the entire economy, and must be made a high priority. Schools struggle to handle increased student enrollments and the need for additional special services as student populations become more diverse and as school budgets continue to decline during these difficult economic times.

NAESP advocates for increased federal funding for cornerstone programs that have the most impact in our nation’s schools. Title I grants, the main source of funding for No Child Left Behind, helps low-income and disadvantaged students improve their academic performance. This, along with IDEA grants, which fund services for special education, cannot meet the demand for these services and have been underfunded by the federal government for decades.

The influx of one-time Title I stimulus funding ended at the start of the current school year, just as the number of low-income students reached record levels. Since over 90 percent for the nation’s school districts participate in the Title I program, this leaves funding shortages for critical services for students most at need.

When IDEA was first enacted in 1975, the Federal Government promised to provide 40 percent of the excess cost to fund special education services. This promise has never been fulfilled, and the federal share of funding special education services in 2012 sits at just 16.3 percent.

Fiscal Year 2013 Budget Process Resources

Communicator Federal Update: Budget Cuts, Blow-by-Blow

New Data on Potential Federal Budget Cuts
The White House released state-by-state data on the impact the House budget resolution would have on a variety of programs, including IDEA funding, Head Start eligibility, and college affordability.

Top-line Allocations Set for Federal Education Funding
The House and Senate have now released their FY 2013 allocations for the Labor-Health and Human Services-Education appropriations bills.

House Budget Resolution to Slash Education Funding
The House is set to debate and vote on Rep. Ryan's dangerous budget plan.

House Committee Passes Budget Resolution
The House FY 2013 Budget Resolution would dramatically cut education funding.

Education Funding At Risk in House Budget Proposal
The House budget resolution will determine top-line spending levels that appropriators can work under while crafting the FY 13 budget, which is due by September 30.

Letter to House Budget and Appropriations Committee Members rejecting President Obama’s FY 2013 budget request proposal to eliminate funding for Impact Aid Federal Properties
Currently, this $67 million line item provides funding to over 200 school districts in 29 states that have a significant Federal presence.

Letter to Senators supporting the Children’s Budget Act, which would require detailed accounting of all federal funding for children and children’s programs
Currently, there is no official way for the nation to tell whether our kids are being shortchanged. Fiscal Year 2012 marks the first time that discretionary spending on kids has declined two years in a row.

Letter in support of the Fix America’s Schools Today Act, which would invest resources to repair, renovate and modernize America’s schools and community colleges
The Act would invest $30 billion to update unhealthy and unsafe learning environments and modernize outdated school facilities, read more here.

Other Resources

Committee for Education Funding
NAESP is a member of the Committee for Education Funding (CEF), the largest and oldest education coalition in the nation. CEF’s mission is to promote robust financial support for our nation’s education system and represents education associations, institutions, agencies and organizations whose interests range from preschool to postgraduate education in both private and public systems.

CEF publishes an annual Budget Briefing book, which includes details on the president’s FY 2013 budget request as well as details on every authorized education program including a description of the program, the historic funding levels and the program funding need.

CEF recently launched an on-line advocacy campaign to stop the scheduled across-the-board budget cuts (known as Sequestration) that are currently schedule to occur January, 2013.

CEF member First Focus, a national, bipartisan children’s advocacy organization launched a website site www.childrensbudget.org, where you can discover annual funding information for each federally supported program that aims to help our nation’s children.

Letter to Surface Transportation Reauthorization Conference Committee in Support of Extending the Secure Rural Schools and Self Determination Act
NAESP supports extending ‘County Payments’ which provides general revenue for rural counties in 41 states with large portions of federal forest lands. These payments support hundreds of rural schools, allowing them to offer extracurricular activities, complete desperately-needed school repairs and maintain otherwise lost teacher and school personnel positions.