Deficit-Panel Members Get Education Advocates' Eye

Education advocates are keeping a close eye on the congressional "supercommittee," which will make broad recommendations for cutting at least $1.5 trillion from the deficit over the next 10 years. The committee's co-chairs are Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.

—Evan Vucci/AP

Committee's work has broad funding implications

By Alyson Klein

Advocates worried about the future of education funding are focusing on the congressional “supercommittee” charged with making major, long-term changes to the federal budget—a task that could have lasting implications for K-12 spending and other aid for children.

The bipartisan panel, whose nickname reflects its broad authority, is charged with coming up with ways to reduce the nation’s deficit by at least $1.5 trillion in the next 10 years. Lawmakers on the panel, which is made up of three Democrats and three Republicans from each chamber, can propose budgetary changes in a host of areas—including taxes, entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, and discretionary spending, which includes K-12 education.

Education lobbyists consider it unlikely that the panel, which was created as part of a compromise to raise the federal debt ceiling, will give close, line-by-line scrutiny to the U.S. Department of Education’s budget. Still, the panel’s sweeping authority and mammoth mandate present a challenge for education advocates, said Joel Packer, the executive director of the Committee for Education Funding ,...