Education Aid Caught in Budget Debate Crossfire

As Congress faces an April 8 deadline to come up with a spending bill for the rest of the federal fiscal year, education advocates, states, and school districts remain anxious about what—and how much—may end up being cut from K-12 aid in any final deal.

Congressional GOP leaders and the Obama administration have shown sharply contrasting views on education spending throughout the current budget drama, which so far has resulted in six stopgap spending measures and billions of dollars in cuts, including $750 million from the U.S. Department of Education’s discretionary budget.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives wants to see significantly deeper long-term cuts across a range of discretionary programs, including in K-12 education, in a bill financing the government for the remainder of the fiscal year,...