State and local school officials, education lobbyists, and child-welfare advocates are anxiously watching Congress as it moves on several fronts to curtail federal spending on education and social services.
The Republican-controlled House has taken steps in recent weeks to cut $1.7 billion in federal education spending in this fiscal year; to trim billions more dollars from federal welfare, housing, and job-training programs affecting children and youths; and to bundle child-nutrition programs into block grants that critics say will not provide enough money in future years to meet growing demands.
House Republicans also are expected to propose more cuts in education spending in the response they are preparing to President Clinton’s fiscal 1996 budget request. (See Education Week, March 1, 1995, and related story