Letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee: July 30, 2009

Member
Committee on Appropriations
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Re:     FY 2010 Labor-Health & Human Services-Education Appropriations bill

Dear Senator:

On behalf of the 95,000 school board members and the state school boards associations representing more than 49 million public school students throughout the nation, the National School Boards Association (NSBA) is writing regarding the FY 2010 Labor-Health & Human Services-Education Appropriations bill.

NSBA greatly appreciates the Subcommittee’s recommendations to preserve funding for special education, teacher quality, career and technical education, school improvement grants and other education programs for FY 2010. Protecting baseline funding for these priorities will help our school districts and states avoid funding cliffs that may occur after the two-year economic stimulus program ends under the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which could impact the scope and delivery of education services and advancement.

The Subcommittee’s proposed funding allocation of $13.8 billion for Title I formula grants for disadvantaged students represents a reduction of $700 million from FY 2009 that would be redirected towards a School Renovation Fund for competitive grants to districts. While school infrastructure repairs and modernization is a priority that is vital to student achievement, NSBA respectfully urges the Committee not to reduce funding for Title I grants as an offset for school renovation. Advancing student achievement and school performance through the Title I program will remain a top priority for school districts after ARRA funding allocations are utilized. Preserving the baseline funding level for Title I will help our schools avert any funding cliffs in FY 2011 and future years.

School districts in a growing number of states are grappling with significant budget cuts, even with ARRA funding. Hence, reducing Title I funding now could exacerbate the fiscal conditions for schools and state education aid in FY 2011. Among those states experiencing severe cuts to education in the coming year, California and Alabama provide examples of such budgetary crises.

NSBA thanks Senators Harkin and Cochran for their leadership on this very important funding bill and understands the reality of managing allocations for key programs with a finite amount of resources. We support efforts to maintain funding for education programs and urge the Committee to also maintain funding for Title I.

Thank you for your leadership and commitment to the nation’s students and school districts.

Sincerely,

Michael A. Resnick
Associate Executive Director