Graduation, Education, and Sequestration

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With all of the June graduations around Maryland, it's a good time to think about our investments in children and their education.

The American Prospect recently issued a special report that examines the effects of the economic downturn and America’s budgetary reactions on the nation’s youth. In its first article, “The Children of the Great Collapse,” Jared Bernstein looks primarily at the national effects of sequestration on low-income children and families, with additional commentary about how further cuts in Paul Ryan’s budget proposal could make matters worse. Bernstein explains that while the helpful stimulus of the Recovery Act prevented millions of children from slipping into poverty during the height of the Great Recession, now that the apparent crisis period is over and this aid to individuals and states has long been spent, working-class Americans may actually suffer worse now in the period of “economic recovery,” as wages and opportunities stagnate.

The emerging effects of sequestration and other Congressional budget fights push attainment of the American Dream farther away for low-income citizens by reducing the possibilities that come from a robust education system. Funds for public schooling have declined for the very beginning of a poor child's education up through the college level. The sequester’s automatic spending reductions cut roughly five percent of federal funding for Head Start. That may not sound severe, but the National Education Association estimates this will reduce access to public preschool programs for roughly 50,000 American children. Over 13,000 Maryland children took part in the program last year, and in most counties, over 90 percent of children eligible for the program were enrolled. This blind budget cutting will reduce access to early education for low-income families and will leave many children unprepared to start their education.

Local K-12 education also feels the pain of these budgetary contractions since, as Bernstein points out, federal aid to local schools makes up over eight percent of the sequestered federal dollars. Much of this money would have targeted schools in low-income communities. As for higher education funding for low-income young adults, if the Ryan Budget became law, funding for the Pell Grants that help millions of college students afford higher education would be frozen at current levels, while tuition around the country rises.

All this comes as Maryland has made progress in educational achievement among its low-income students, according to Education Sector, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank on education policy. The organization’s recent special report studied students’ scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress tests between 1995 and 2009. It shows that Maryland has made more progress than any other state in improving achievement in reading and math scores of free-and-reduced-price-lunch eligible fourth and eighth grade students. The state raised scores of its economically disadvantaged students on average by more than 50 points. That is nearly twice the national average for improvement. It indicates that these Maryland students have attained an increase in nearly two additional years of learning. 

Cuts to school aid risk derailing the state’s trajectory in this area.

Sequester supporters in Washington argue that this austerity move helps reduce “government waste” and will result in a leaner, more efficient government. Local critics of government stewardship of public funds point to Baltimore City’s school system, which has been in the news recently after a federal audit uncovered some extravagant and unnecessary spending. 

Of course, in both good and bad economic climates, school system officials need to use the public dollars they are allocated wisely and responsibly. And of course when they do not, they must be held accountable. However, despite these sensational findings, evidence shows that our public school dollars are improving teaching and learning in classrooms around the state, and we are getting results that will help Maryland’s economy, communities, and families for a generation to come. We’re getting a great return on our investment in education. Now is not the time to divest in our future.