Teaching Profession

Education Groups Push Congress to Fight for Title II Funding

By Corey Mitchell — April 05, 2017 1 min read
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A coalition of groups that represent tens of thousands principals, teachers, and school administrators are calling on members of Congress to preserve funding for Title II, which President Trump wants to eliminate as part of sweeping education budget cuts the White House has proposed.

The National Association of Secondary School Principals, the National Association of Elementary School Principals, American Federation of School Administrators, ASCD, New Leaders, and Learning Forward are leading the effort to sustain funding for Title II, which gives states the opportunity to boost efforts to improve school leader and teacher effectiveness.

Trump wants to scrap the program, which is officially called the Supporting Effective Instruction State Grant program, or Title II, Part A. My colleagues at Politics K-12 point out that it’s the third-largest spending bucket in the U.S. Department of Education’s budget that goes to K-12 education.

School officials say eliminating Title II would hamper their efforts to implement the Every Student Succeeds Act, the federal education law that Congress approved in December 2015.

“Over the past two years, there has been considerable recognition at the state and local levels of the need to provide a greater investment in the recruitment and retention of effective principals and professional learning systems for teachers,” the letter reads.

”... without any Title II funding, states and districts will not be able to execute plans that strive to support effective educators as they implement the [Every Student Succeeds Act]. Congress must give states the necessary resources to invest in principals and help our nation’s schools and students succeed.”

The coalition addressed the letter to Republican Sen. Roy Blunt, chairman of the Senate appropriations subcommittee that deals with education spending, Republican Rep. Tom Cole, the chair of the education spending subcommittee in the House, and two Democrats—Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the ranking members on those committees.

Here’s a look at the letter and the signatories.

For Further Reading

School Leaders to Congress: Protect Principals From Trump Budget Cuts

Trump’s Education Budget ‘Falls Far Short,’ Education Groups Say

A version of this news article first appeared in the District Dossier blog.