January 3, 2013

2013: Hope, Fear or Something In Between?

Congress and the President have managed to convert the “fiscal cliff” into a fiscal stairway by addressing one piece of federal economic policy while deferring (the polite word for “kick the can down the road” actions) many other pieces that will affect federal funding for schools. School districts and county offices of education still face an 8 percent cut to federal funding because of the sequestration trigger being pushed forward to the end of February at the same time as the federal debt ceiling armistice ends.

The unresolved school funding uncertainty will affect school districts differentially. Districts with budgets composed of significant percentages federal funds will have more to fear than districts with smaller percentages of federal funds.  Because many of the districts with significant federal funding also have high percentages of students from low-income families and who are English learners, they have hope that the Governor’s Budget will include additional funding for providing education services to those students.

Finally, school districts with funding from federal programs that are ending, such as the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act, face an even greater loss of federal funds in addition to the losses from sequestration.

~Dave Walrath