Impact-Aid Advocates Ponder Capitol Hill Strategy

By Julie A. Miller

WASHINGTON While many segments of the education community are gearing up for 1993, when many of the federal precollegiate education programs are to be reauthorized, the stakes are especially high for schools that depend on impact aid.

The program, which compensates school districts for tax revenue lost as a result of the presence of federal property and employees, is among the oldest federal education programs. It is also arguably the least popular among many lawmakers, and its funding, in inflation-adjusted dollars, dropped 45 percent between 1980 and 1991.

"We know we have to change perceptions on [Capitol] Hill, or we're just going to sink deeper into that hole," said John Forkenbreek, the executive director of the National Association of Federally Impacted Schools. "We have to revamp the program to better conform to today's thinking about what the federal role...