Advocacy Update: NAESP Presses On FY 2015 Funding Priorities

By Kelly D. Pollitt
Communicator
October 2014, Volume 38, Issue 2

Congress is currently on recess and will not reconvene until the “lame duck” session after the November mid-term elections. Once members of Congress return, they will work for about 15 days, and then adjourn until the new 114th Congress begins in late January. Majority Senate Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has indicated the Senate will take up the Marketplace Fairness Act, a bipartisan measure that would allow states to collect taxes from online retailers; a package of tax extenders; an omnibus bill funding government for Fiscal Year (FY) 2015; the annual U.S. Department of Defense authorization; and a resolution authorizing military action against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

To recap, the FY 2015 Continuing Resolution, or “CR”, that is currently funding the federal government expires on Dec. 11, 2014. During the lame duck session, Congress must either pass an “omnibus” appropriations bill, which is when all 12 appropriations bills are folded into one large legislative package at funding levels agreed to prior to passage, or extend the current CR through to the next Congress. The latter is a more likely scenario if Republicans capture the Senate majority in the mid-term elections. This action may result in additional negotiations and funding cuts for programs next year.

In the meantime, NAESP has submitted a letter to note the top funding priorities as Congress works on finalizing the FY 2015 appropriations, including funds for Title I and Title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. This letter includes key language that would encourage states to better support the role of principals in schools, especially given the increasingly complex and demanding aspects of the job. To view the full funding priorities, which were submitted in collaboration with the National Association of Secondary School Principals and the American Federation of School Administrators, please click here.

Kelly D. Pollitt is Associate Executive Director for Policy, Public Affairs, and Special Projects at NAESP.

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