Evers speaks out against Trump’s education budget cuts

We will give you tools for social media.

Trump’s proposed increase to Title I funding includes his encouragement that school districts make the funding follow a student to a public school of his or her choice in an open enrollment environment.

With barely more than 200 words devoted to higher education in its new budget proposal, the Trump administration manages to take us on a brief but dizzying journey through the looking glass to a place where cuts of billions of dollars to a crucial grant program for low-income students can be called “safeguarding” and reductions of hundreds of millions of dollars in other valuable supports for underserved students can somehow be reconciled with protecting minority students.

Another program slated for elimination is the $1.2 billion 21st Community Centers program, which supports before school and after-school programs as well as summer programs.

Under H.R. 610, state voucher programs would get a big boost by the federal government through block grants, according to Education Week. It is “the first step in investing in education programs that work”.

Though political wrangling means it’s unlikely the budget will pass in its current form, higher education leaders and the typically left-leaning college access community are warning that the budget signals the Trump administration will make it more hard for students to afford college and minimize debt.

As I have written here many times before, and the Baptist Joint Committee has long argued in opposing school voucher programs, funding religious education with taxpayer funds undermines religious liberty.

The National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities said that Arizona received $21.4 million in the supplemental grants which it distributed to 35,183 students for the current school year. Currently, 14 states plus Washington, D.C. offer traditional school vouchers program; Washington, D.C., though is the only federally-funded program in the country. Eliminating programs that help train and improve our educators, provide after-school opportunities for kids, and assist first-generation college students will have a direct, negative impact on the lives of Wisconsin families.

Not all programs from the Department of Education were cut.

The administration is proposing to allocate an additional $1.4 billion for school choice programs and to eliminate two programs worth $3.6 billion that provide funding for teacher preparation and after-school programs, among other plans.

“Taxpayers deserve to know their dollars are being spent efficiently and effectively”, DeVos said in a news release.

While the proposal does not touch programs supporting special education students, public education advocates are already decrying the impact this budget could have on schools.

SEEKING HONOR Teachers at I.S. 119 in Glendale, Queens want their school renamed after its longtime principal, Bernadette Boyle, who died last month.

“Right now, Pell Grants are only available for qualifying students during the fall and spring semesters”, Stefanik continued. The funds would not expanding existing Title 1 funds, but to create an entirely new program under Title 1 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. “They always talk about how colleges should have a ‘skin in the game, ‘ and with these programs they have ‘a skin in the game'”.

This fiscal year, which ends on September 30, California is expected to receive $4.09 billion dollars in federal support for all elementary and secondary education programs out of the last budget approved by Congress during President Obama’s administration. President Trump’s proposal only provides these programs with $492 million, leaving an $86 million gap.

Parman said there are too many unanswered questions in Trump’s education proposal. As an educator, I don’t believe she’s qualified for the position and I disagree with numerous policies she plans to implement.

While any changes to the Pell Grant would likely touch the broadest swath of low-income students proposed cuts to other, smaller programs also signal that the administration’s priorities aren’t in sync with students coping with college costs and student debt, said Huelsman. The state’s Promise Scholarship is awarded based on academic performance, not financial need, and there is no discussion in the Legislature to expand the program.