Frederick Brown, president and CEO of Learning Forward, issued a statement regarding the devastating effects from proposed fiscal year 2024 budget bill to the Title II-A program, Every Student Succeeds Act:
July 13, 2023 — “On behalf of the nation’s children and educators, Learning Forward is shocked and gravely concerned by the drastic cuts to the federal fiscal year 2024 education budget announced today by the House Appropriations Committee of the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee.
“These proposed cuts will mean continuing drops in student achievement, as schools and students aim to recover from the pandemic. This will have a devastating and lasting impact on America’s children.
“The decision to eliminate funding for the Title II-A program eviscerates critical investment in high-quality professional learning, which is directly linked to increased educator effectiveness, improved student achievement, and teacher and principal retention.
“By eliminating funding for high-quality professional learning, which we know improves teaching and raises student achievement, the Appropriations Subcommittee is hindering schools’ learning recovery. The devastating impacts will be felt most deeply in the communities that have been hit hardest by the pandemic and where student achievement is lagging the most.
“High-quality professional learning is not an optional add-on to public education; it is a critical and fundamental component of effective teaching and leading. It allows educators to help students reach for the stars and achieve their goals.
“We urge the entire House to fully fund Title II-A and prioritize the investment in high-quality professional learning opportunities for educators. By investing in the growth and development of our teachers and school leaders, we are investing in the future of our students and our nation.
“Eliminating these dollars now guarantees the critical problems we are all trying to solve will get much worse because we will decrease the kinds of supports districts and schools need to support and retain the very teachers and leaders needed to improve our schools. Given the evidence about the positive impact of high-quality educator professional learning on student achievement, this bill represents a reprehensible attack on public education and the nation’s children.”
Update: On July 18, Fred Brown issued a call to action to all educators to help save Title II-A. Brown explained why students would be harmed by the recommendation from a U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee to eliminate Title II-A, the main source of federal funding for professional learning, and asked everyone to reach out to their Congresspeople.
Reach out to your Congresspeople to save Title II-A.
