Although the federal budget for the 2011 federal fiscal year, which began on October 1, 2010, has not yet been approved by Congress and remains under heated debate, on February 14, 2011, President Barack Obama released his administration’s budget proposal for federal fiscal year (FY) 2012.  The proposal includes a request for Congress to allocate $77.4 billion for education funding, which is about a 4 percent increase over the FY 2010 education budget.  According to documents available from the Office of Management and Budget, the FY 2012 budget proposal for education includes, among other things: $900 million for a new K-12 Race to the Top competitive grant program – this time for individual school districts rather than states; a $280 million increase for programs for children and infants with disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and children and their families who receive Supplemental Security Income; $300 million in new funds for disadvantaged students under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; $54 million in additional funding for School Turnaround Grants; and $300 million to continue the Investing in Innovation (i3) program.  While making some cuts in the Pell Grant program for low-income college students, the budget proposal includes continued funding of Pell Grants at a maximum of $5,550 per student.  Budget fact sheets by each federal government department can be reviewed at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget_factsheets_departments

In light of the unapproved status of the FY 2011 budget, and the widened philosophical differences between congressional Democrats and Republicans regarding government spending, obtaining full approval of the Obama administration’s proposed FY 2012 education budget may prove to be difficult.  According to a February 12, 2011 article in Education Week online, Republican leaders of the House of Representatives recently introduced a House Resolution that would drastically cut the FY 2011 education budget to $4.9 billion below the 2010 budget.  This includes significant cuts in funding for programs under Title I, IDEA, and Head Start.  The House Resolution also proposes to reduce the maximum Pell Grant by $845 per student.  The House is expected to vote on the House Resolution by February 17th.  According to a February 14th article in the Washington Post, the House Resolution “would amount to the most significant government contraction since the end of World War II.”

On February 14, 2010, in response to the House budget proposal the Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE) and the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) issued a joint Action Alert.  The Action Alert requests citizens to contact their respective congressional representatives and urge them to oppose the House proposal.  Highlighting the proposed cut of more than $500 million from IDEA, CEC stated on its Web site that “if enacted, this proposal would result in the largest reduction in discretionary spending in the history of our nation, more than five times larger than any similar package of cuts considered by the U.S. House of Representatives.”  The Action Alert can be accessed at http://capwiz.com/cek/callalert/index.tt?alertid=27646566.

The U.S. Senate, with a majority of Democrats, is expected to put forth its own 2011 budget proposal within the next few weeks and the proposal is expected to be significantly different from the House proposal.  Failure of the House and Senate to reach agreement on the FY 2011 budget by early March could result in a shut-down of the federal government in the absence of a new stop-gap measure similar to the ones that have financed the government since the beginning of the fiscal year.

About Patsy Crawford

Patsy Crawford, Director of Legal Services, PCG Education, has over 30 years of legal experience and is responsible for providing legal and regulatory compliance support to the PCG Education management team. Since joining the firm in 1997, Patsy has worked closely with school district administrators and PCG Education managers and consultants to coordinate with state and federal Medicaid agencies to protect and improve billing programs for school districts. She has provided direct legal support to PCG Education projects in multiple states across the country.

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