December 21, 2007
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Congress Passes Budget: Paltry Sums for Education

This week, Congress passed the FY08 budget after months of slow deliberation and contentious battles. The bill that the House and Senate passed this week dramatically lowered spending by 40% for many federal agencies, including the Department of Education. Appropriations for education received a meager 3.3% increase from FY07, an amount that does not even match the inflation rate in certain education programs including IDEA and Javits. Therefore, education programs across the nation face uncertainty and must operate with limited funding and resources.
Due to the advocacy efforts of the CAN Network, CEC was successful in restoring funds to the Jacob Javits Act that funds programs for children who are gifted and talented.

The new appropriations for FY08 include the following:
IDEA Part B - $259 million increase
IDEA Section 619 Preschool - reduced by $6.65 million
IDEA Part C Infants and Toddlers - reduced by $746,000
IDEA Part D:
·         State personnel development: $22.598 increase (*)
·         Technical Assistance and Dissemination: reduced by $854,000
·         Personnel Preparation: reduced by $1.567 million
·         Parent Information Centers: $824,000 increase
·         Technology and Media Services: $873,000 increase
Javits Gifted and Talented Education: reduced by $130,000
Title I of No Child Left Behind - $1.6 billion increase
Head Start - reduced by $10.58 million
Early Reading First - reduced by $5 million
Even Start - reduced by $15.8 million
Reading First - reduced by $636 million

CEC appreciates the efforts of our advocates who lobbied Congress to increase funding for education. Unfortunately, there was not enough support in Congress to pass higher funding levels.
* Unfortunately, the Administration's budget did not allocate funds for the Part D- State Personnel Development Program in its original budget. According to the Administration, this was a mistake. Due to the advocacy of CEC and others, funds were restored to this line item, but at approximately 50% below FY 2007 amount. Therefore, technically the funds for the program were cut not increased as indicated by the above number.

Moratorium on Medicaid Reimbursement Extended for 6 Months; CMS Set to Eliminate Medicaid Reimbursement for Administrative Costs and Transportation
Good News: This week, Congress passed legislation that places a moratorium on the elimination of Medicaid reimbursement of Medicaid-eligible children with disabilities for administrative claiming and transportation. Because of the six-month moratorium, school budgets for the 2007-2008 year will not be affected. This moratorium is a direct result of the grassroots advocacy of CEC members. CEC thanks you for your diligence in advocating against the CMS rule, and recognizes the impact you made with Congress.

However, today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) placed on display their final rule to eliminate Medicaid reimbursement for administrative claiming and transportation for Medicaid-eligible children with disabilities. The final rule will be published in the Federal Register on Friday, December 28, 2007.  A media fact sheet will also be available on the CMS website and may be accessed at: www.cms.hhs.gov/apps/media/fact_sheets.asp.

CEC, along with many of its members, responded to the Notice for Proposed Rulemaking this fall urging CMS to withdraw the rule as it was misguided and contrary to existing legal precedent.

CEC is deeply concerned about the implications of the final rule as it places an enormous financial burden on schools across the nation. CEC will remain vigilant in lobbying against the rule, and will be calling on members of Congress to pass legislation that will remove the CMS ruling.

President Threatens Veto on NCLB Reauthorization

In an end-of-the-year press conference, President Bush illustrated that the upcoming NCLB reau­thorization negotiations are an example of how the White House and Congress could "work together." The president also proclaimed that, "If they try to weaken the law, I'll veto it."

The Bush administration takes strong positions on several areas of contention in the current law and opposes the following:
·         Changing the 2014 universal proficiency deadline
·         Allowing multiple measures of academic achievement for adequate yearly progress, and
·         Limiting supplemental services or school choice.

More information about the White House's posi­tion on NCLB

CEC's Recommendations  on NCLB Reauthorization.

SCHIP Temporarily Renewed

Legislation temporarily renewing the State Children's Health Insurance Program includes $1.6 billion in ad­ditional funding in FY 2008, and $275 million for the first half of FY 2009 to maintain current enrollment levels. Congress is anticipated to take up SCHIP sometime next year.