WASHINGTON,
D.C. – U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) today called on Republicans
in the House of Representatives to live up to their commitment on education.
Schakowsky launched “Education Promises Broken” website to illustrate the
impact the proposed cuts to education funding would have on Illinois and
the rest of the nation.
http://www.house.gov/schakowsky/educationpromisesbroken.html
The
website includes two Congressional reports from the Democratic staffs of
the House Appropriations Committee and House Education Committee.
The reports expose Republicans’ failures to address national educational
priorities.
“A
commitment to education without adequate dollars is a broken promise.
The Republican budget shortchanges students by cutting funding instead
of investing in public education. Democrats in Congress are fully committed
to funding our nation’s educational needs and to ensuring that no child
is left behind,” Schakowsky said.
The
Senate passed legislation restoring over $3 billion in education funding,
but the White House and House Republican leadership have refused to accept
that additional funding.
Nationally,
the budget proposed by House Republicans:
-
Cuts
$90 million from last year’s education bill. The result is 16,000
fewer teachers receiving training and 50,000 fewer children in after-school
programs.
-
Freezes
childcare and includes only a token increase for Head Start, cutting the
number of children currently served and leaving millions of eligible low-income
children without the needed resources to advance.
-
Underfunds
Special Education by a half billion dollars, delaying the goal of full
funding of this important program.
-
Eliminates
Programs- Claims to increase funding overall for Title I, but in actuality
eliminates a number of current programs to pay for new initiatives.
-
Cuts
College Loans- The Republican budget cuts $450 million from Pell
grants, reducing the maximum amount each student can receive by $400.
It also eliminates the Leveraging Education Assistance Partnerships program,
zeroing out 72,000 scholarships for low-income students.
Like
the rest of the nation, the state of Illinois will suffer cuts under the
Republican House budget. In Illinois, the Republican House budget:
-
Cuts
$189 million needed to support the Title 1 grants program, which provides
supplemental assistance to improve the educational attainment of low-achieving
students, especially those in high poverty areas.
-
Cuts
nearly $540 million from IDEA funding, which is desperately needed to improve
special education.
-
Cuts
$926 million in education funding for homeless children and youth programs.
-
Cuts
$15 million from grant programs designed to improve teacher quality.
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