The Important Education Issue Leaders Are Still Ignoring

Reblogged from Campaign for America’s Future

One of the more telling combinations of news stories from the past week found education policy insiders in Washington, D.C. rejoicing over the passage of a new law rewriting federal education policy while at the same time a new report revealed how political leadership is continuing to fail America’ public schools.

This is not to say that revising federal education policy wasn’t a worthwhile goal. For sure, the new law, dubbed the Every Student Succeeds Act, has corrected some harmful aspects of federal education policy. Many good commentaries have pointed out significant problemswith the new law too. But such is the nature of legislating. You don’t always get everything you want.

However, despite all the celebration surrounding ESSA, the issue that remains mostly unaddressed in education policy is the massive under-funding that most states continue to inflict on public schools. The ugly truth about how political leaders continue to underfund local schools was exposed in a new report from the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.

Schools Aren’t Getting The Money They Need

The new CBPP report finds, “Most states provide less support per student for elementary and secondary schools – in some cases, much less – than before the Great Recession.” This is an issue that should be front-and-center in education discussion, not something burbling in the background while education policy leaders congratulate each other over a job well done. Read more>>