AzSIAA Bi-Weekly Newsletter
NAFIS Opposes Re-Purposing Impact Aid as an ESA
- June 1, 2107
NAFIS released the following statement on Wednesday, May 31, to national reporters and education trade publication writers:
The National Association of Federally Impacted Schools (NAFIS) is on record opposing attempts to repurpose Impact Aid as a voucher, and NAFIS opposes a recommendation to turn Impact Aid into an Education Savings Account (ESA) made by a Heritage Foundation staffer at the Education Writers Association National Seminar in Washington DC.
"Turning Impact Aid into a voucher or an ESA clearly misses the point and purpose of Impact Aid," said NAFIS Executive Director Hilary Goldmann. Impact Aid is a payment to school districts for taxes not collected from land owned by the Federal government.
Private school tuition and other qualified ESA expenses have no connection whatsoever to a loss of local tax revenue due to a Federal impaction.
"Changing Impact Aid into an ESA would burden local taxpayers with higher taxes and require students to go without," said Goldmann.
NAFIS looks forward to continuing to work with Congress and the Administration to ensure fairness to students, schools, and taxpayers where there is a Federal presence.
NAFIS released the following statement on Wednesday, May 31, to national reporters and education trade publication writers:
The National Association of Federally Impacted Schools (NAFIS) is on record opposing attempts to repurpose Impact Aid as a voucher, and NAFIS opposes a recommendation to turn Impact Aid into an Education Savings Account (ESA) made by a Heritage Foundation staffer at the Education Writers Association National Seminar in Washington DC.
"Turning Impact Aid into a voucher or an ESA clearly misses the point and purpose of Impact Aid," said NAFIS Executive Director Hilary Goldmann. Impact Aid is a payment to school districts for taxes not collected from land owned by the Federal government.
Private school tuition and other qualified ESA expenses have no connection whatsoever to a loss of local tax revenue due to a Federal impaction.
"Changing Impact Aid into an ESA would burden local taxpayers with higher taxes and require students to go without," said Goldmann.
NAFIS looks forward to continuing to work with Congress and the Administration to ensure fairness to students, schools, and taxpayers where there is a Federal presence.
NAFIS to offer Webinar
- June 19, 2017 at 3:00 pm Eastern time on the Trump Budget Request.
Please RSVP by June 19. The proposal includes deep cuts to domestic programs across every Federal agency with the exception of the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs. The cuts include a 13-percent cut to US Department of Education programs. The same proposal makes significant reductions to critical entitlement safety net programs, such as Medicaid. Overall, defense spending is increased by $22 billion and non-defense discretionary spending is reduced by $57 billion. NAFIS is on record as opposing this budget proposal.
Impact Aid Federal Properties funding is eliminated, while the four other Impact Aid line items (Basic Support, Children with Disabilities, Construction, and Facilities) are level-funded from FY 2017 April 28 CR levels (no increases included in the FY 17 omnibus were built into the President's budget request).
Please RSVP by June 19. The proposal includes deep cuts to domestic programs across every Federal agency with the exception of the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs. The cuts include a 13-percent cut to US Department of Education programs. The same proposal makes significant reductions to critical entitlement safety net programs, such as Medicaid. Overall, defense spending is increased by $22 billion and non-defense discretionary spending is reduced by $57 billion. NAFIS is on record as opposing this budget proposal.
Impact Aid Federal Properties funding is eliminated, while the four other Impact Aid line items (Basic Support, Children with Disabilities, Construction, and Facilities) are level-funded from FY 2017 April 28 CR levels (no increases included in the FY 17 omnibus were built into the President's budget request).
NAFIS Endorses Construction Bill
NAFIS has endorsed the "Rebuild America's Schools Act" introduced by Congressman Robert "Bobby" Scott (D-VA) on May 17. The legislation provides $70 billion in construction grants based on state Title I allocations, $30 billion in qualified school infrastructure bonds, and permanently increases the national limitation for the Qualified Zone Academy Bond program from $400 million annually to $1.4 billion annually. Finally, the bill provides $100 million for the Impact Aid Construction (Section 7007) line item:
NAFIS submitted a letter of endorsement that reads, in part: A $100 million infusion of funds, as proposed, could be easily allocated - the program and staff capacity already exist - to address the significant backlog of facility needs. School districts are educating students in facilities with health and safety code violations, or that are more than 100 years old. Specific needs include overcrowding, tornado shelters, leaky roofs, cracked foundations, expired boilers, and more. It is unimaginable that school leaders must decide between allocating funds to addresses these problems and teaching and learning.
A fact sheet on the bill notes that the total backlog of school facilities needs tops $197 billion. NAFIS is in the process of analyzing the results from a survey of the membership on the capital construction needs of NAFIS member school districts.
NAFIS submitted a letter of endorsement that reads, in part: A $100 million infusion of funds, as proposed, could be easily allocated - the program and staff capacity already exist - to address the significant backlog of facility needs. School districts are educating students in facilities with health and safety code violations, or that are more than 100 years old. Specific needs include overcrowding, tornado shelters, leaky roofs, cracked foundations, expired boilers, and more. It is unimaginable that school leaders must decide between allocating funds to addresses these problems and teaching and learning.
A fact sheet on the bill notes that the total backlog of school facilities needs tops $197 billion. NAFIS is in the process of analyzing the results from a survey of the membership on the capital construction needs of NAFIS member school districts.
AASA's FY18 Budget Response
Prepared by Noelle Ellerson, Associate Executive Director, Policy & Advocacy - May 23, 2017
On May 23, 2017, President Trump released his FY18 budget proposal. Federal fiscal year 2018 (FY18) starts October 1, 2017 and runs through September 30, 2018. These are the federal funds that will be in school districts for the 2018-19 school year. This year’s budget proposal is the first from the Trump administration and represents a marked departure from recent budget proposals. Unlike recent years, which prioritized and protected education investment, this proposal disinvests in education across the entire continuum, reducing support for early education, elementary education, and secondary education programs.
This analysis is broken into three parts: Background and Overview, AASA Analysis and Talking Points, and Related Charts and Statement by AASA Executive Director.
Use the Talking Points when you call your Congressperson.
Click here to Read more.
On May 23, 2017, President Trump released his FY18 budget proposal. Federal fiscal year 2018 (FY18) starts October 1, 2017 and runs through September 30, 2018. These are the federal funds that will be in school districts for the 2018-19 school year. This year’s budget proposal is the first from the Trump administration and represents a marked departure from recent budget proposals. Unlike recent years, which prioritized and protected education investment, this proposal disinvests in education across the entire continuum, reducing support for early education, elementary education, and secondary education programs.
This analysis is broken into three parts: Background and Overview, AASA Analysis and Talking Points, and Related Charts and Statement by AASA Executive Director.
Use the Talking Points when you call your Congressperson.
Click here to Read more.
ASIAA Membership for SY2018 Invoices
Invoices were emailed May 6, 2017 to all member districts. The email is addressed to the primary contact. Please forward to your accounting office. If you have not received an invoice, please email Larry Wallen, Executive Director at lwallen@azsiaa.com to request a second invoice. If you want the invoice to be after June 30, 2017, please include in email. ASIAA thanks you for supporting Arizona Impact Aid. Thanks to Casa Grande Union High School District and Sacaton Elementary for their prompt response.
Impact Aid Amendment Deadline
- June 30, 2017
Per updated Impact Aid regulations finalized last year, the FY 2018 application deadline has moved from September 30 to June 30. If your district needs to amend its Impact Aid application, you have 28 days to do so.
Per updated Impact Aid regulations finalized last year, the FY 2018 application deadline has moved from September 30 to June 30. If your district needs to amend its Impact Aid application, you have 28 days to do so.
ASIAA Membership
Please contact your Congressperson to support “Rebuild America’s Schools Act” introduced by Congressman Robert “bobby” Scott (D-VA) on May 17.
Fall Conference Dates
Hotel Link - September 24-26, 2017 - Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill. Conference-goers can reserve a room at the Hyatt by using this link. A separate conference registration link will be coming soon!
ASIAA Working with FISEF
ASIAA is working with FISEF to host a two-day business officials workshop in Phoenix. FISEF workshops are capped at just 20 participants, tentatively scheduled for October 19-20, 2017.
3rd Annual Indigenous Language Revitalization Summer Institute
3rd Annual Indigenous Language Revitalization Summer Institute at Northern Arizona University June 12-15, 2017.
DeVos details Education Department priorities with $9B budget cut
"The budget also reflects a series of tough choices," Devos said. "If taxpayer money were limitless, we wouldn't need a budget at all. But by its very definition, a budget reflects the difficult decisions of how best to appropriate the limited taxpayer dollars we have. This budget does so by putting an emphasis on the programs that are proven to help students, while taking a hard look at programs that are well-intended but simply haven't yielded meaningful results."
Her emphasis is on returning more decision-making power to states and additional options for parents, including charter schools and vouchers to cover the cost of private school placement. She was chairwoman of the Alliance for School Choice.
Read More at UPI.com
Her emphasis is on returning more decision-making power to states and additional options for parents, including charter schools and vouchers to cover the cost of private school placement. She was chairwoman of the Alliance for School Choice.
Read More at UPI.com
DeVos Cites District of Columbia in Defending Trump’s Push for School Choice
- Politics K-12 - June 2, 2017
...Trump's proposed budget for fiscal 2018 would institute a new $250 million grant program for states to fund and research the effects of private school vouchers, a new $1 billion public school choice program under Title I funding for disadvantaged students, and a 50 percent bump in federal charter school funding, up to $500 million… Click here to read more.
...Trump's proposed budget for fiscal 2018 would institute a new $250 million grant program for states to fund and research the effects of private school vouchers, a new $1 billion public school choice program under Title I funding for disadvantaged students, and a 50 percent bump in federal charter school funding, up to $500 million… Click here to read more.
Proposed Budget Cuts for Disadvantaged Students Would Hit These States Hardest…
- Politics K-12 - May 24, 2017
President Donald Trump's proposed education budget would cut close to 4 percent from traditional, formula-based Title I aid, the U.S. Department of Education program designated for disadvantaged students. And as part of that $578 million cut, big states (not surprisingly) would take the biggest overall dollar hit. For example, California would see a $61 million cut from its $1.83 billion in Title I aid in fiscal 2017. But which states would lose the biggest share of their previous Title I aid…
Click here to Read more.
President Donald Trump's proposed education budget would cut close to 4 percent from traditional, formula-based Title I aid, the U.S. Department of Education program designated for disadvantaged students. And as part of that $578 million cut, big states (not surprisingly) would take the biggest overall dollar hit. For example, California would see a $61 million cut from its $1.83 billion in Title I aid in fiscal 2017. But which states would lose the biggest share of their previous Title I aid…
Click here to Read more.
Education Department introduces new IDEA website
- June 5, 2017
The US Department of Education has launched a new website with information and resources about the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The resource comes three months after the previous site crashed because of technical problems.
The US Department of Education has launched a new website with information and resources about the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The resource comes three months after the previous site crashed because of technical problems.
Fiscal Year 2018 President’s Budget for Selected Department of Education & Related Programs
Line item view of the proposed federal education budget.
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