Preparing for a new
Congress and Administration
Washington, D.C. is in a bit of a funk. As the 114th
Congress draws to a close, Congress is set to leave town in a few days without
fully completing its federal budgeting process (yet again). There is a sense of
bewilderment by lobbyists, congressional and agency staff and even members of
Congress about what kind of political environment they will face when they return
in January.
As a staunchly non-partisan organization, AASA is in many ways lucky
compared to other key education groups. We have great relationships on
both sides of the aisle. We know that our members depend on us to advance the
best policies possible for students and school systems regardless of who thinks
of them. This allows our team to be flexible, pragmatic, aggressive and
independent in our defense of the public policy interests of superintendents.
While this election was devoid of much serious conversation about education
policy, now that we know we are working with President-elect Trump, we are determined
to make it a meaningful relationship. We didn’t hide our displeasure with the
Obama Administration’s Race-to-the-Top initiative, or conditional ESEA waivers
or expansion of the Civil Rights data collection. The Department knew what we
thought and they chose to do things differently than we would have liked, which
is their prerogative. Similarly, we will call it like we see it with the Trump
Administration. And, as we look ahead to next year and try and crystalize what
Trump may want to do in the K-12 education space, it’s a bit of a mixed bag.
On the one hand, one of the most controversial fiscal regulations
on school districts ever proposed governing the distribution of state and local
Title I dollars is likely to disappear (see supplement not supplant call-to-action).
We could also see a less aggressive role for the Office of Civil Rights under a
Trump Administration and a reduction in data collection requirements on districts
and proactive investigations. We could also see potential changes to
regulations at the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Labor,
and related to the Affordable Care Act. These changes will likely be wins for
AASA members, from a policy point of view.
On the other hand, we will likely find ourselves spending
significant time and energy fighting draconian cuts to education. With control
of both chambers, Republicans could try and lift spending caps on defense at
the expense of non-defense discretionary spending, of which education is
included. This would mean that we could see reductions in our key federal
education funding streams at a critical time.
Medicaid reform is also a concern we will be tracking. Our policy
team works closely with our Children’s Department to incentivize greater
healthcare coverage for students. The untimely need to reauthorize the
Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coupled with the possibility that
fewer Medicaid-eligible students will receive coverage if Medicaid expansion
under the Affordable Care Act is repealed should be of great concern to school
leaders.
While Trump disagrees with members of his own party about spending
sometimes, there’s a possibility that there could be broad support for finding
and funneling “new” dollars toward school choice. While Trump’s $20 billion-dollar
school choice plan is short on details, most Beltway insiders do not believe
that attempts to make Title I dollars portable to private schools will go far
next Congress. The majority of the Congress was re-elected and they are proud
to see the implementation of ESSA move forward and know that Title I
portability would fundamentally alter successful enactment of the most heralded
legislative accomplishments in recent memory. However, attempts to
voucherize IDEA funding, create a federal tuition tax-credit system, or expand
the floundering D.C. voucher program are all strong possibilities. There is
also some speculation that Trump could try to use the presidential pulpit to get
states to repurpose state dollars.
As we consider the Trump policies we probably will not like, there
is comfort in knowing that we still have the same Chairman and Ranking Member
on the Senate Education Committee: U.S. Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) Patty
Murray (D-Wash.) The thin GOP majority in the Senate and the continuation of
the 60-vote threshold make it more likely that reasonable, bipartisan policy
and funding measures prevail in that chamber. In contrast, the House Education
Committee will be led by a known firebrand, U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.),
who has been more focused on higher education policy than K-12.
While AASA would have preferred a nominee to
lead the Department of Education with not only experience within education, but
a track record reflecting support for public schools, we will to try and build a strong working relationship with
Betsy DeVos and her team, and continue to honestly and actively
represent the views of school leaders in Washington, D.C. To the extent that
education policy is on the menu, we will be at the table.