Despite Education Funding Cuts, ASCD will meet at The Philadelphia Convention Center

In the face of the fact that the Obama administration gave warnings that funding cuts in K-12 education would continue in the post-ARRA era, The Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) will be forging ahead at their annual conference at the Philadelphia Convention Center on March 24^th – 26^th.

Hopefuls have been discussing an fiscal year 2013 budget of as much as $25 billion for teacher stabilization and $30 billion for modernization of our schools.  But in reality, these provisions were speculated numbers found within the American Jobs Act being reworked and first introduced Fall ‘2011—the American Jobs Act had first been introduced last fall, and though the administration reintroduced it now, it has not gone far.

So what can be expected?  Try a $1.72 Billion increase in the Department of Education’s discretionary spending, the majority of which ($1 billion) is, unfortunately allotted to higher education and not K-12.

This year K-12 programs like Title I, IDEA, 21^st Century Community Learning Centers, TRIO, English Language Acquisition grants, and Gear Up, career and technical education are functioning on 2011 fund levels.

To be sure, K-12 educators will have to fight hard this year even just to preserve the existing funding they are getting.  Proposal of fiscal year 2013 is to consolidate separate grant programs into one.  Programs like Teaching American History, economic education, Arts in Education and civics previously had separate grants, but now would compete with each other for consolidated grant monies.

The total grant monies for all of these subjects, combined are slated to be $90 million in 2013.  In 2011 it was $102 million.

At a time when America needs to step up in educating the upcoming generations, this is bleak news indeed.  Let’s hope ASCD finds a way to pull a proverbial rabbit out of their proverbial hat to meet this severe financial challenge and give American children what they need to compete in world markets.  ASCD members, as you prepare to travel to the Philadelphia Convention Center in March, make sure to sharpen your pencils, there will be a test!