Federal education programs face more than an eight percent budget cut next year unless Congress intervenes; and, the Cherokee Central school board has adopted a resolution Res12-19-12 urging Congress to stop these across-the-board cuts that would have a detrimental impact upon the school district.
The across-the-board cuts to federal education programs that benefit the Cherokee Central school district would occur under a process called sequestration (defined as the cancellation of budgetary resources) that was enacted under the Budget Control Act of 2011. For the Cherokee Central school district, a budget cut of 8.2 percent in federal funding would mean fewer course offerings, cuts to Title I, Title II, Title VII, Transportation, Facilities, Special Education programs and ISEP as well as teacher/staff lay-offs
Nationwide, sequestration would cut education funding by more than $4 billion, and would affect the Cherokee Central school district’s budget by more than $1.3 million at a time when states and local governments have very limited capacity to absorb further budget cuts.
“Given the budget cuts and adjustments our local community has made in recent years, there is simply very little, if anything else, left to cut,” said Lori Blankenship Cherokee School Board Chair. “Any further cuts in education funding could adversely affect the quality of our education programs. For example, some of the courses and programs that could be eliminated or curtailed would include extra-curricular activities, non-core classes and could result in teacher and teacher assistant layoffs.”
The resolution adopted urges Congress and the Administration to amend the Budget Control Act to mitigate the drastic cuts to education that would affect our students and communities, and to protect education as an investment critical to economic stability and American competitiveness.
Currently, bipartisan negotiations are underway in Congress to develop an alternative to sequestration. The Cherokee Central school board resolution indicates the community’s awareness of this critical issue and is being forwarded to members of Congress to urge their support to avert the sequester.
– Cherokee Central School Board
