萝莉网

This week House Republicans will begin debate on their tax package that they are moving through a process known as 鈥渂udget reconciliation.鈥� Right now, the House is debating several proposals that could directly harm K-12 students in public schools: They are:

 

 

萝莉网led a letter signed by 60+ national organizations in February, urging Congress to maintain the current structure of Medicaid and not shift any costs to states. State and local governments are not in a position to shoulder large new funding responsibilities, especially given the economy's increasingly concerning indicators and the already strained state finances. Education and Medicaid are the top two state budget items each year and when States are forced to invest more heavily in Medicaid it will likely cause a diversion of resources and a reduction in investments for students in our classrooms. 

We also worry that states facing budget pressures may consider cutting reimbursement for school-based Medicaid programs entirely, despite Medicaid being the fourth largest federal funding stream for schools. School-based Medicaid programs serve as a lifeline to children who can鈥檛 access critical health care and health services outside of their school. As a survey of 1,000 districts earlier this year found, changes to the structure of Medicaid that result in diminished reimbursement for schools will lead to harmful reductions in special education services and personnel, reductions in mental health services and personnel, and the elimination of many school nursing positions which benefit all students in the school regardless of their family income.

 

The other top-of-mind issue for reconciliation is the inclusion of a $100 billion school voucher program. As we shared in April, this bill known as the Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA) is unprecedented from both an education and tax perspective. It would be the first time the federal government would give any taxpayer a dollar-for-dollar tax credit (not a standard deduction) for a donation to a 501c3鈥攁nd not just any 501c3, one that has the sole focus of bundling together payments for kids to attend private school or be homeschooled. 

 

The voucher is nearly universal as it can go towards families making as much as 300% of the area median income and allows state and federal vouchers to be stacked together, offering sizeable subsidies for families already receiving tuition discounts. There is no limit to the voucher amount a family could receive and there is no sliding scale that would assume wealthy families receive less funding than low income families. There is no accountability for taxpayers regarding how the funding will be spent by families or schools. In fact, the federal government and States are prohibited from disallowing or even questioning a single expense or a single school that receives these funds, so that Republicans can claim the legislation will 鈥渕aximize educational freedom.鈥� 

 

We know this is our battle to lose. Recent polling shows that the public agrees that public funds should fund public schools, which serve over 90% of students, rather than being diverted to private schools. America cannot afford to subsidize a second private system of education when our public schools are underfunded.

 

If you haven鈥檛 sent an email to your member of Congress on either of these issues recently, please reach out to our team and let us know how we can empower you to make a difference in this battle for the future of public education.