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Policy Update
It is more important than ever for all of us to advocate for afterschool. Your voice matters- and now is the time to fight for funding for afterschool for FY2018. Tell your representatives why afterschool is important to you and your community.
ESSA in the Budget
The 2018 Budget submitted by the Administration proposes a $59 billion budget for the Department of Education in FY 2018. This represents a $9 billion, or 13%, reduction. As we know this is only a proposed budget, and Congress is responsible for making final appropriations decisions- yet this is an important marker of what the administration values. As Senator Roy Blunt put it during Sec. DeVos Senate Subcommittee hearing we discussed last week, "it's likely the kinds of cuts proposed in this budget will not occur, so we really need to fully understand your priorities and why they are your priorities".
The proposed FY2018 budget, as shown in the chart above, makes some major changes to the way ESSA is funded. It eliminates entirely the Supporting Effective Instruction State Grant (
Title II),
Student Support and Academic Enrichments Grant (
Title IV-A)
, and 21st CCLC, while increasing the funding for Title I. The $1 billion increase in Title I is designated for a new program designed for voucher programs. Sec. DeVos and others in the administration have made it clear that they believe school choice is an important factor in improving students educational experiences and outcomes. There is however little evidence that voucher programs improve academic outcomes.
FY 2016 Appropriations
FY 2017 Appropriations
FY 2018: Proposed POTUS Budget
ESSA Title I: Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged
$15.7 billion
$15.9 billion
$16.9 billion
ESSA Title II: Teacher Quality State Grants
$2.25 billion
$2.055 billion
$0
ESSA Title IV, Part A: Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants
(New program within ESSA)
N/A
$400 million (ESSA authorizers requested $1.6 billion)
$0
ESSA Title IV, Part B: 21st Century Community Learning Centers
$1.166 billion
$1.191 billion
$0
Federal CET Update
Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted by voice vote without objection to pass
H.R. 2353, the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act. The bill would reauthorize the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins) through Fiscal Year (FY) 2023. H.R. 2353 is very similar to the bill passed by the House last year to reauthorize Perkins and would make important improvements to the federal system of support for CTE. Work will now be focused in the Senate, where concerns around issues of Secretarial authority stalled discussions last fall. One step closer, several steps still to go.
State Update
This is the time of session when final deals are being made to collect the necessary votes for critical pieces of legislation. It is difficult to say much more than that legislation can move quickly and with little notice. Of the 474 bills assigned to Ways and Means during the 2017 session, 145 have passed through the committee, leaving 329 bills. Some of these bills are placeholders, some are just awaiting clearance, and some contain concepts that will be absorbed into other bills. However, the only chance for many of the bills to pass will be for some version of the
Commercial Activity Tax to move forward.
In one exciting note,
HB 2391 A(Provider Tax) passed through the House with the help of one crucial Republican vote. The new Provider Assessment will allow more than 140,000 children to continue to receive Medicaid coverage. The bill next goes to the full Senate where it should face an easy path to move forward.
Staying Up to Date with State Policy
We know how important it is to stay up-to-date on current state legislation and encourage those of you who are interested to know more about the happenings in Salem, you can follow bills directly from theOregon State Legislatureor contactJames Bartato get weekly updates from Children First about a plethora of child related issues.
Take Individual Action
You can make a difference. Call on congress to protect funding for afterschool and summer learning programs. Need help finding your legislators?Click HERE.
Need talking points to support your own stories of afterschool?HEREis evidence showing that Afterschool Works.
Thank you for your support of afterschool in Oregon and across the nation.
OregonASK is a collaboration of public and private organizations and community members which seek to address common-issues and concerns across all out-of-school time services- child care, recreation, education and youth development.
