House Appropriations Subcommittee to consider Ed Dept budget

Dive Brief:

It remains to be seen how the finalized budget for the U.S. Department of Education’s upcoming fiscal year will compare to President Donald Trump’s proposed budget from earlier this year, though many believe that Congress has significant concerns with the kinds and sizes of suggested cuts, according to Education Week.
The House Appropriations Subcommittee begins considering legislation on funding the department today, and Trump has proposed $9.2 billion in cuts that include $2 billion in teacher-training and $1.2 billion in after-school programs, as well as a $1.4 billion increase in school choice initiatives — including boosts in grants to charter and private schools.
The $400 million Title IV block-grant program — which funds a variety of disparate needs, from programs assisting in promoting students' well-being to ed tech resources — could also be endangered.

Dive Insight:

As Congress determines what to include in the upcoming budget, President Trump’s own proposal included expected cuts but also expanded funding for Title I grants. However, Title II funding could be cut; the Trump administration defended the proposal, asserting that Title II grant beneficiaries could apply for Title I funding; therefore, while Title I may be expanded, there could be significantly more applicants in the coming year. It remains to be seen if Trump’s Title I boost would offset the elimination of Title II.

Advocates for teacher development, including the New Teacher Center, have expressed concern about the proposed elimination of Title II funding. Though NTC Policy Director Liam Goldrick said in a recent Education Dive interview that the administration’s budget was unlikely to pass as it was, Title II could still face drastic cuts and could be more endangered in the coming years. However, at a session during the National Principals Conference in Philadelphia this week, experts touted the importance of on-the-job training, saying it should comprise 70% of training efforts, and in a recent discussion on Capitol Hill, it was suggested that teacher-leaders are the best developers of teachers, not outside consultants. For districts which take heed to these two ideas, there could still be opportunities to effectively train teachers even in the face of more budget cuts.

Autumn A. Arnett contributed to this post.