The Leading Edge

Earlier today, President Obama announced his FY13 federal budget. He announced his $3.8 trillion budget at a community college in Northern Virginia, a budget that shines a light on—for the third year in a row—education investment. The administration continues to shine a light on education funding, providing a $1.7 billion (2.5 percent) increase in the Department of Education budget over FY12 levels. The President’s priorities for FY13 bear strong resemblance to those from 2011 and 2012, with close attention to improving teaching and strengthening teachers and school leaders. The President’s budget provides a 1.7 percent increase for ESEA programs. These increases, along with support for teachers and leaders, are important steps toward supporting long-term, meaningful gains in student learning and school performance. The budget again consolidates 38 programs down to 11, and regroups programs to eliminate duplicative or ineffective programs.

That said, within the Department budget, it looks like the administration continues to prioritize investment in competitive grants. While Title I and IDEA funding are protected in that they are not cut, AASA continues to be disappointed to see new, additional dollars within the Department of Education sent toward competitive grants that fund only some students instead of to the flagship formula programs that benefit every school in the nation.

AASA’s budget response is included in the links below. Another helpful item will be the AASA charts document, which lists the funding levels for key K12 programs, along with the proposed consolidations.

Relevant documents:

• AASA's FY13 Budget Talking Points
• AASA Charts: Funding Levels and Consolidations
• FY13 Federal Budget Overview
• FY13 Education Budget Overview
• FY13 USED Budget Summary (Program Detail)
• Combined Fact Sheets (Education Overview on page 10; Education Section on page 57)