The committee letter said that the cuts
have come at a time when enrollments have increased, more children are living in poverty and schools and students have endured deep state and local budget cuts. Enough is enough! It’s time for Congress to reject these draconian cuts and replace the sequester with a balanced package of deficit reduction. Solving our nation’s fiscal situation and reducing the debt can’t and won’t happen simply by slashing education.
This approach to funding is different from the GOP legislation in the House on the National Defense Authorization Act, which set authorization levels for the military at pre-sequester levels.
Though the GOP education bill is not expected to become law, given that the Democratic-led Senate has very different legislation aimed at rewriting the No Child Left Behind law, critics are going full force to oppose it.
The GOP legislation would not only cut federal funding but also the federal role in K-12 education, a departure from the path that began when former president George W. Bush pushed through his signature education law, No Child Left Behind, more than a dozen years ago. NCLB started an era of high-stakes testing in which the federal government played a prominent role.