By Della Cronin

In Washington, D.C., the spring brings thousands of advocates to Capitol Hill to meet with members of Congress and their staffs to discuss the issues and federal programs that affect them.  This year, the DC location for the 2018 NCTM Annual Meeting & Exposition gives interested attendees the opportunity to Sign up for Hill Visits to receive training and then visit with their congressional representatives on Wednesday April 25.

Funding is in the forefront of everyone’s mind after February’s two-year budget deal was struck. The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 gives federal appropriators relief from statutory spending caps and increases the non-defense discretionary (NDD) budget by $63 billion this year (FY2018) and by $68 billion in FY 2019. On the defense side of the ledger, the budget cap for FY2018 is increased by $80 billion and by $85 billion in FY2019. Congress has until March 23 to decide on spending allocations (or “302(b)s”) for each of the subcommittees, and (finally!) complete an omnibus spending bill to close out the FY 2018 spending bills–6 months late.

Advocates are breathing a sigh of relief that the threat of sequestration has been removed and the authorizations of a number of programs that impact the education, health and well-being of children and their families were extended. These laws includes a five-year reauthorization of the national home visiting program known as the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (MIECHV); an extension to 10 years of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which had already received a partial extension in the last continuing resolution (CR); and the authorization of the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) that establishes new reforms to the child welfare system. The deal also suspends the debt ceiling debate until March 2019 and adds hundreds of billions of dollars in federal spending for the military and disaster relief. Additionally, the legislation comes with a topline agreement to provide $4 billion over two years for programs that aid college affordability, but specifics on what that means are scant. (There is an indication it is to shore up the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, according to previous statements by Senators Warren (D-MA) and Sanders (I-VT)).
The two-year deal will hopefully make this year’s (FY 2019) spending process less problematic, as all House members and one-third of the Senate face mid-term elections in November, and they try to avoid messy spending debates in the run up to Election Day. Hopefully, the larger budget will mean stronger investments in Title II of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which is the largest federal investment in educator professional development, as wells as more funds for the Title IV, Part A program, a flexible block-grant program which supports district-level investments in STEM and other subjects that constitute a “well-rounded education,” programs that support safe and health students, and the effective use of technology in K-12 classrooms, which is woefully underfunded presently.  NCTM and others would also like to see adequate investments in research at the National Science Foundation and the research agencies, as well as more funds for teacher preparation programs via the Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP) program.  In fact, NCTM joined with the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, the STEM Education Coalition, the National Science Teachers Association and other groups to host a Capitol Hill briefing on the importance of the TQP program last month.  The event was well attended by Hill staff wanting to understand the program and its results.

In February, President Donald Trump released a budget request that shows he does not share NCTM’s spending priorities. The plan seeks about a 5% reduction in funding for the Department of Education (ED). The request asks for $63.2 billion in discretionary aid for the agency, which is a $3.6 billion cut from current spending levels. While the proposal would reduce funds for education substantially, it’s an improvement over the President’s request for last year, which included a 13.5 percent cut.
Despite the improvement, the White House has once again proposed that no funding go to Title II of ESSA, which sends about $2 billion to states to support investments in educator and teacher professional development. The 21st Century Community Learning Center program, which supports afterschool programs in every state with just over $1 billion, would also receive no funds in the plan. It should be noted that Congress does not share these spending priorities and is poised to finalize FY 2018 spending bills that will support both of these programs. Educators expect the same in the FY 2019 debate, but NCTM and others will be sure to make their case loudly for both.

Unlike last year, the FY 2019 plan proposes investing in career and technical education programs at current levels of $1.1 billion. The plan also outlines a strategy for reaching the annual goal of investing at least $200 million annually in STEM and computer science education that was established by a September 2017 Presidential Memorandum directing the increase in funding for the Education Innovation and Research program to $180 million and creating a new $20 million career and technical education program.  
While the budget request for ED and other agencies sends Capitol Hill and stakeholders a message about the White House’s priorities, Congress generally takes these concepts as suggestions. They still hold the power of the purse, and they will be listening to the thousands of folks that visit with them this spring, including NCTM members, as they decide how to use that power.