“The Afterschool Alliance. The League of American Orchestras. The National Science Teachers Association. … Those are just a few of the education advocates and other organizations asking Congress to beef up funding for the Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants, which are part of Title IV of the Every Student Succeeds Act,” writes Andrew Ujifusa in Friday’s (3/18) Education Week. “Through ESSA, a variety of federal programs … were rolled into a big block grant for districts. ESSA authorizes about $1.5 billion a year in federal spending for these ‘academic support and enrichment grants.’ But President Barack Obama’s fiscal 2017 budget proposal only seeks $500 million for the block grant.” A coalition of 75 organizations have sent members of House and Senate appropriations subcommittees a message stating, “We believe that the President’s FY17 budget request is grossly inadequate. Specifically, the President’s budget proposes to fund this program at $500 million, which is less than one-third the authorized funding level to which Congress and the President agreed less than 3 months ago. This would have devastating consequences in all schools districts.”
Posted March 18, 2016
