Lawmakers Must Protect Educational Programs from Further Cuts

摘要

With the U.S. elections behind them, the White House and Congress are hammering out agreements on several major policy issues that have ramifications for the education community and for all Americans. These issues include: 1.Expiration of the Bush tax cuts 2.Extension of unemployment benefits 3.Sequestration (automatic spending cuts) Sequestration in particular could have a lasting impact on school budgets, depending on its outcome. How did we arrive at this fiscal cliff? In August 2011, Congress created the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction-the "supercommittee"-and tasked it to find $1.2 trillion in savings over 10 years. If the supercommittee fails, automatic across-the-board cuts will go into effect, slashing programs this fiscal year.