By Della B. Cronin
It looks as though April showers brought May budget deals in Washington. On May Day, Congressional leaders unveiled a budget deal on fiscal year 2017 to avoid a federal shutdown. The plan finally answered many questions for the STEM and education advocacy communities. And the answers were good and bad—the hallmark of a true compromise. The 1,665-page bill will spend just over $1 trillion on discretionary programs and encompasses the 11 unfinished federal spending bills. Both Democrats and Republicans touted the contents of the package as wins. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said, “The omnibus does not fund President Trump’s immoral and unwise border wall or create a cruel new deportation force.” Republicans pointed to defense spending increases and investments in border security as highlights of the proposal. Both sides hailed the $2 billion increase for the National Institutes of Health.
As for the bill’s effects on education spending, the total amount going to the Department of Education, including both discretionary and mandatory spending covering K-12 and other issues, would fall by $60 million from fiscal 2016, down to $71.6 billion. In the good news column, Title I spending would grow by $100 million to $15.5 billion from last fiscal year. State grants for special education would also increase to $12 billion–a $90 million bounce. However, in the bad news column for NCTM and classroom teachers, Title II grants for teacher development would be cut by $294 million, down to about $2.1 billion for the rest of fiscal 2017. Also in disappointing news, the new Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grant program in the Every Student Succeeds Act (also known as Title IV, Part A), would only see $400 million—a sum that is far below the program’s authorized level of $1.65 billion. The new program is a block grant that districts can use for a wide range of programs, including STEM education, education technology, computer science, health, safety, arts education, counseling, college readiness, and more. The funding level is disappointing, but given that the previous administration requested less than half of the program’s authorized amount, and the Senate had proposed only $300 million for the program in its bill last year, it’s evident that Hill allies fought for at least some funds for the new program. The bill also includes guidance on the block grant that would allow states to award funds to districts via a competitive grant program (the law says the funds would be sent via a formula). There will be more questions and answers about that process in coming weeks, for sure.
Overall, the deal conveys at least two messages from Congress to both the White House and the education community. First, given that the plan rejects many of the Trump Administration’s ideas on education (there’s no choice proposal, it doesn’t reduce Title II spending anywhere close to the level the White House would like, and it actually increases funding for an afterschool program the White House would like to eliminate altogether), appropriators are telling the White House that they really do make the decisions about spending. Secondly, the deal provides (limited) comfort for the education community, showing they do have allies on the Hill.
That comfort might be tested soon. In late May, the White House will release its FY 2018 budget plan and it is expected to gut Title II, as did the smaller plan from March and propose other troubling reductions. NCTM and the STEM education community will be ready to meet with allies and others to convey the importance of these investments. In addition, the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act is due for revising, and the House Education and the Workforce Committee leadership is expected to introduce legislation very similar to the bill passed by the House last year to do just that. The proposal attempts to better align career and technical education offerings with local workforce needs—an alignment that the STEM education community sees as an opportunity to expand and innovate curriculum offerings.
Meanwhile, at the Department of Education, states are beginning to submit their ESSA plans. These plans will guide state efforts to improve education for their students, and the community will be looking at the content of those plans closely. About a dozen states have already sent in their plans, and more will do so between now and September.
Every month has brought the education and STEM education communities something new—a crisis, an opportunity, or some combination. June will likely do the same.
Della B. Cronin is a principal at Washington Partners, LLC.