What We're Saying

Categories

FUNDED Issues

 

FUNDED Articles

Community/Regional DevelopmentEducationGrantseeking/Grant ResearchInnovation/Advanced ResearchPolitical LandscapeTechnology

FY18 Budget Watch: Department of Education

In September, President Trump signed into law the Continuing Appropriations Act of 2018 and the Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Requirements Act of 2017. These acts provide funding for the Department of Education, as well as other federal departments, through December 8, 2017 while Congress continues to work towards an agreeable fiscal year 2018 (FY18) budget (information on this funding is available at: https://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/news.html). Curious to know where we are in this process and how this may impact future education grant funding? Read on!

While Congress has expressed little interest in diverting public school dollars towards Trump’s proposed $1 billion Public School of Choice or $250 million Private Choice Pilot initiatives, that may be about the extent of agreement between the two chambers. The only agree on one other thing: rejecting deep cuts – to the tune of $9.2 billion – to education funding proposed by the Trump. Of the funding bills currently pending in both the House and Senate, the House Appropriations Committee appears more willing than the Senate’s to reduce the total amount of FY18 funding for the Department of Education, however. In fact, through all the various iterations of proposed funding coming from both chambers over the last several months, the House has always proposed a reduction from FY17 enacted funding levels while the Senate has always proposed an increase. Following, the current proposed FY18 education budgets at both the House and Senate are reviewed.

 

THE HOUSE

Education funding has been paired with several other federal agencies within the House’ omnibus bill. In all, the House’s bill would provide $65.8 billion to the Department of Education. This amount would be a reduction of about $2.4 billion (or -3.5%) for the department from FY17 enacted levels. The House proposes to achieve this cut through ending funding for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title II Teacher Training grants program, and by greatly reducing the amount of funding available for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant program. Despite these cuts and a reduction in the Department’s budget as a whole, the House’s appropriation bill has approved increases to several other education grant-related areas.

Highlights include:

·         An increase of $200 million for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act’s Special Education Grants to States (for a total of $12.2 billion).

·         An increase of $5 million for the Impact Aid program (for a total of $1.3 billion).

·         An increase of $100 million for Student Support and Academic Achievement State Grants (for a total of $500 million).

·         An increase of $28million for grant funds in support of Charter Schools (for a total of $370 million).

·         An increase of $60 million for TRiO Grant programs (for a total of $1.01 billion).

·         An increase of $10 million for GEAR UP Grant programs (for a total of $350 million).

These funding levels were approved by the House’s Appropriations Committee in July.

 

THE SENATE

The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved a much larger education funding bill than that of the House. The Senate’s bill looks to provide $68.3 billion for the department which is an increase of about $29 million (or +0.1%). By largely maintaining existing funding levels, the Senate would reduce funds for less effective initiatives while continuing to allocate dollars for more popular grant programs such as: the 21st Century Community Learning Centers grants (currently at $1.2 billion); the Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title II Teacher Training grants (currently at $2.1 billion); and Career and Technical Education State Grants (currently at $1.1 billion).

Other highlights include:

·         Maintaining current funding levels for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act’s Special Education Grants to States (for a total of $12.2 billion).

·         An increase of $11.5 million for the Impact Aid program (for a total of $1.3 billion).

·         An increase of $50 million for Student Support and Academic Achievement State Grants (for a total of $450 million).

·         An increase of $25million for grant funds in support of Charter Schools (for a total of $367 million).

·         An increase of $3 million for TRiO Grant programs (for a total of $953 billion).

·         An increase of $10 million for GEAR UP Grant programs (for a total of $350 million).

The Senate’s version of the bill was approved by their Appropriation Committee in September. 

While these approvals are a major step towards establishing what the FY18 budget will ultimately look like, final approval is still a long ways away. The House and Senate bills will still need to be reconciled, with an agreed upon version passed by both chambers. Once that happens, the final appropriation bill will be sent to the President’s desk for his signature of approval. As both bills are currently within their respective chambers’ mark-up process and have no set date to be voted upon, it is likely that we will not see the FY18 budget finalized until late in the calendar year at the earliest.