Tell Congress to Continue and Strengthen Education Funding

Subject:

Dear [ Decision Maker ],

Investing in our nation's students and our education infrastructure must be a top priority for Congress as we work to rebuild our nation's economy. The link between education and our economic stability could not be any clearer; neither can be strong when the other is weak.

Passage of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 (ARRA) reflected the strong commitment of President Obama and the congressional leadership to invest in critical federal education programs. Although I have some implementation concerns, these resources are helping provide students with the services they need to succeed academically, while maintaining the education workforce required to help them reach their potential.

President Obama is right on target in proposing new programs focused on early education, wraparound services, high school graduation and college completion. Funding for the president's proposals, however, should be provided in addition to increased support for existing programs. I reject the argument that funds provided under the ARRA negate the need to provide funding increases in the FY 2010 appropriations process. The states' fiscal difficulties are expected to continue or get worse in the 2010-11 school year, and our education system will need increased support if we expect to compete globally.

To this end, I urge you to support significant funding for the following education programs above FY 2009 levels:

* Title I. Support President Obama's proposed increase for Title I School Improvement Grants (SIG). However, increasing funds for SIG should not come at the expense of the traditional Title I formula grant program, which gives schools essential supplemental assistance to provide a high-quality education for struggling, disadvantaged students. To this end, the formula grant program should be increased significantly in FY 2010.

* IDEA Special Education. Support a significant increase in IDEA funding. Such funding would move us a step closer toward meeting the federal government's original commitment to pay its share of the cost of providing students with disabilities the services they need to reach their full potential.

* Improving Teacher Quality State Grants, English Language Acquisition State Grants, Career and Technical Education State Grants, the Child Care and Development Block Grant, Head Start and Early Head Start. All of these initiatives should receive significant increases. At a minimum, these programs should receive increases that allow them to continue providing needed services at FY 2009 levels, after adjusting for inflation, enrollment increases and any reauthorization requirements.

* Pell Grants. Make the Federal Pell Grant program mandatory and index Pell Grants to the Consumer Price Index plus 1 percent.

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