In the past year, the face of American politics has changed as never before—and 1996 will prove to be an even more decisive year in our history. Today, Congress is undoubtedly presenting the U.S. education community with its greatest challenge.
Although spending on federal education programs represents less than 2 percent of the overall federal budget, education programs have been cut by nearly 18 percent. Still, Congress wants to cut $36 billion from the education and training budget over the next seven years. That means Congress is proposing to reduce basic skills funding by more than $1 billion in 1996. As a result, one out of every six children now receiving basic skills assistance will be deprived of these services.
Congress also proposes to cut the Safe and Drug-Free Schools Act. The proposed cut for 1996 is 60 percent. This reduction would deprive more than 39 million students of these services next year. It means jeopardizing students' safety.
But it also means denying our children opportunities to make their futures meaningful and worthwhile. The budget proposals will increase the cost of a college education for millions of students. Five million students will pay as much as $9,000 more for college loans. Congress is also proposing cuts to the Pell Grant program—cutting off grants to 360,000 students in 1996.
Cuts in federal education programs are more than four times greater than the average cuts for other domestic programs—and state and local dollars will not make up for the loss of federal funds. With cuts to service learning, dropout prevention, bilingual education, and vocational education, it is not difficult to see the impact these cuts will have on our students' education. To make matters worse, these cuts come at a time when enrollments are rapidly climbing.
ASCD's Response
At a time when Congress is attempting to reduce the federal commitment to education by one-third, it is imperative that we in the education community force education onto the priorities list of Congressional leaders and the White House.
In response to the most dramatic attack on American education this century, many of the leading national education associations, including ASCD, have formed the Education First Alliance. The Alliance aims to demonstrate how the loss of $67 billion will affect states, localities, schools, families, and students. Its purpose is to emphasize the centrality of education to America's future. The theme of the Alliance is "Make Education First." Accordingly, the associations in the Alliance will use that message in all of their communications. The subthemes will relate to the important areas served by education: K-12, colleges, adult education, and overall contributions to the community.
The Education First Alliance is bipartisan, and everything it does will reinforce the education message. Its focus will be on generating press and grassroots challenges to Congressional actions that harm education. Members of the House and Senate must see that the public support for education expressed in poll after poll is real and that the public expects education programs in their states and communities to be funded.
ASCD is also a member of the Forum of Educational Organization Leaders (FEOL), a coalition of 13 national associations uniting to create a new synergy. Founded in the early 1970s, FEOL was designed to foster information sharing and networking among the associations and federal education officials. In September, FEOL decided it would enter the school reform arena, over the long term, as a coalition voicing the common concerns of its members about where our schools are headed.
FEOL is working to develop a consensus on what public school students need educationally to lead America into the new millennium. This "rallying call" will enable the member associations and their members to act as a united front in their advocacy efforts. This call to action by the membership of FEOL was prompted, in large part, by the proposed cuts to the federal education budget. Members of the forum felt it was time to organize short- and long-term campaigns to resist these proposed cuts, and to build and maintain long-term confidence in, and support for, public education.
Association Action
As we prepare for the 21st century, many people are deeply concerned about our society, our economy, and our schools. Change is a major topic of discussion everywhere. But we must not abandon our commitment to the youth of America—our nation's future. From the halls of Congress to the Oval Office to federal agencies, education must prevail. With next year shaping up to be a watershed year in American politics, education associations are seeking to play a new role in vigorously advancing their members' perspectives.
Terry Peterson, counselor to U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley, reminds us that "the reductions in education and social spending will not make children's lives healthier or happier." We must explain to our representatives in Congress how the proposed legislation will harm children in our schools. As we work to support high-quality teaching and learning for all students, the current Congress has presented us with another reason to strengthen our resolve to influence the federal education agenda now and in the future.