 |
| wpclipart.com |
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.
Last week, we posted a blog item about the state allocating
$9 million from the reserve fund to back-fill federal sequester cuts for head
start, senior citizen services, and other programs. We also covered the disappointing national stats on jobs and unemployment.
