Today, Congress unveiled the long-awaited Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 omnibus appropriations bill to provide federal funding for education and workforce development through September. As we previously reported, the federal government has been operating on a series of stopgap funding measures since the fall. The most recent short-term funding bill was set to expire last Friday, prompting a one week extension to allow time for lawmakers to finalize this agreement. If approved, the bill will provide level funding for the Perkins Basic State Grant and National Programs. It not yet known whether the Department of Education will provide 30 states with supplemental funds to offset earlier cuts to their Basic State Grant allocations, following the practice of the previous Administration.
Despite efforts by the Trump White House to include broad cuts to domestic programs, congressional appropriators opted for a more balanced approach to funding the remaining five months of the fiscal year. The bill proposes to reinstate year-round Pell grants, which would allow Pell students who have exhausted their awards for the year to extend their financial aid for another session. The bill also includes $400 million for K-12 student support services funded through the new Title IV block grant in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which can be used by school districts to offer career guidance programs. However, it would also give states the authority to distribute those funds to districts through a competition, rather than by formula. Unfortunately, ESSA Title II grants for teacher development, which can be used for specialized training that encourages collaboration among academic and CTE teachers, would receive a 13 percent cut in the bill.
Funding for Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act state grants to assist youth, adult and dislocated workers would be level funded, as would Adult Education state grants. An initiative to expand access to apprenticeship programs, known as ApprenticeshipUSA, would see funding increased to $95 million for the year.
Both the House and Senate will have to vote on the FY 2017 funding bill by the end of the week to avoid a government shutdown. Check the CTE Policy Watch Blog for the latest Perkins funding updates.
Great!
Posted by: Catherine Mbinya | 06/28/2017 at 08:16 AM