Tomorrow, the House of Representatives will debate and vote on House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s (R- WI) Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 budget, H. Con. Res 112. Details have emerged on how the proposed budget would impact education.

(Find a previous NAESP story on Ryan’s budget here).

NAESP strongly opposes Ryan’s budget proposal, as it threatens our education system, the strength of the economy, and the nation’s global competitiveness. The federal budget should not be balanced on the back of students.

The proposed budget would:

• slash assistance for the increasing number of students with special needs, cutting Title I funding by $2.7 billion, denying resources to 9,000 schools that need it.
• slice IDEA funding by $2.2 billion, which would lead to 30,000 lost jobs.
• cut discretionary spending by $115 billion over 10 years, while increasing defense spending. The result is a 19 percent cut to education in FY 2014.
• limit access to Head Start for 200,000 students.
• restrict SNAP benefits (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) for 8 million low-income people starting in 2013. 
• devastate the higher education system. Student loans will become more expensive (with interest rates set to double in July from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent), in-school interest subsidies will be eliminated, and Pell Grants will be cut by $3 billion, limiting access for millions of college students. 

The NEA compiled state-by-state data on the funding cuts and job impacted in FY 13 and FY 14 of three major programs for children.

• Find chart on Ryan’s budget cuts to Title I here.
• Find chart on Ryan’s budget cuts to IDEA  here.
• Find chart on Ryan’s budget cuts to Head Start here.

NAESP strongly encourages NAESP members to contact your Member of the U.S. House of Representatives to express opposition to Ryan’s budget. You can find your Member of the U.S. House of Representatives by entering your zip code here.