NSBA Addresses Education Funding in Obama’s Budget Proposal

Alexandria, Va. (February 14, 2012) – The National School Boards Association’s (NSBA) Executive Director, Anne L. Bryant, addressed K-12 education funding in President Barack Obama’s fiscal year 2013 budget proposal.

“We are hopeful by President Obama’s support for education in his proposed budget, as strong public schools are an important investment to ensure America's global competitiveness.

“We must maintain high-quality education services for all our children without sacrificing effective programs that are increasing student achievement. School board members are acutely aware of these extremely challenging economic times. State and local budgets continue to be slashed at a time when our schools are being challenged with more students living in poverty.

“The federal government must uphold their responsibility to support and fund the efforts of local school districts to ensure an excellent education that advances student achievement for all students. Local school districts need flexibility to determine how best to allocate funding resources to support student achievement.

“Schools are struggling to maintain key federal mandates of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and No Child Left Behind within Title I. More funding is needed to prevent school districts from cutting other important programs to meet these federal requirements.

“Additionally, Obama’s emphasis on competitive grants will hurt school districts that do not have the resources to hire grant writers when they are being forced to lay off teachers and eliminating successful academic programs.”

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Founded in 1940, the National School Boards Association (NSBA) is a not-for-profit organization representing state associations of school boards and their more than 90,000 local school board members throughout the U.S. Working with and through our state associations, NSBA advocates for equity and excellence in public education through school board leadership. www.nsba.org