“The cuts to student aid are unconscionable not only because they are the biggest in 12 years, but also because they take excessive fees from low-income students and give these proceeds, in the form of tax cuts, to the wealthiest Americans,” NEA’s Weaver says.
Many K-12 education programs also would see net losses with the across-the-board cuts, including Title I aid to local schools, a cornerstone of the No Child Left Behind Act. Title I had been slated for a $100 million increase, something that would be wiped out by the 1 percent reduction in the $13 billion program.
“We have witnessed the worst assault on public education in American history, with record-setting cuts to student aid, cuts to the
so-called No Child Left Behind Act,” Weaver says.
But congressional sponsors say the new legislation will help control runaway federal spending.
“For the first time in nearly a decade, we’re initiating critical reforms in the federal government’s largest programs and achieving savings for American taxpayers,” says Rep. Jim Nussle, R-Iowa, chairman of the House Budget Committee. “More importantly, we’re laying the groundwork to ensure that these programs can survive, operate more efficiently and continue to provide vital services to the millions of Americans in need.”
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