Politics & Government

PC Schools Official Joins Lowey to Decry Congressional Education Cuts

Frank Fanelli, Assistant Superintendent of Port Chester- Rye Union Free School District, joined Congresswoman Nita Lowey to decry federal education cuts at a press conference yesterday.

“The loss of funding through the sequester and other cuts creates a perfect storm of negative consequences,” Fanelli said. “Districts like Port Chester find ourselves with no pathway to meet the needs of children who desperately require additional help to perform at the new proficiency levels.”

Lowey, Fanelli and other local school officials blasted the impact of the federal cuts on students and teachers and called on Congress to reach a budget agreement that would better support local schools at the press conference.

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Beginning in March, federal across-the-board budget cuts known as “sequestration” went into effect, resulting in cuts to most government services. Under the budget cuts, defense spending is reduced by 7.9% and non-defense spending is reduced by 5.3%, according to Lowey's press release. 

New York State was forced to reduce its $82 million allocated to education in past years to $78 million due to the sequester, which left the Port Chester school district without the $1.4 million 21st Century Community Learning Center grant for after-school programs they have received in past years from the State Department of Education.

Find out what's happening in Port Chesterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The district had to find new grants and accept help from local organizations after it did not receive that $1.4 million 21st Century state grant. Service Education Resources and the Port Chester Council for the Arts are now running the elementary and middle school after-school programs, but parents have to pay a fee for the first time. While the district finds ways to keep costs as low as possible, they are unable to provide the same service to students.

Despite the damage done by across-the-board cuts to education, Lowey said the Republican proposal to fund education initiatives would lock in the current cuts and slash the education-spending bill by another 22% in 2014. If applied proportionately, it would lower federal funding for education by $2.6 billion and aid for disadvantaged students by $2.8 billion.

  “If we want to remain a global leader, we need to help today’s students become tomorrow’s entrepreneurs and innovators. We should give our students and teachers the tools to succeed, not make their jobs harder through increases to classroom size and reductions to personnel and enrichment programs,” said Congresswoman Lowey. “That’s why Congress must come together to agree on a fair and balanced budget plan that invests in our students’ futures.” 

 Here is more from Lowey’s press release: 

If Congress allows the sequestration cuts to continue, they will cost schools in Westchester and Rockland Counties approximately $4.4 million a year from only two federal programs: Title I funding, which seeks to improve academic achievement for the disadvantaged; and IDEA funding, which helps schools educate children with disabilities.

Unless Congress acts to cancel the cuts, each year in New York State, Title I grants would be cut by more than $45 million each; IDEA Special Education grants would be reduced by approximately $36.3 million; and Head Start funding for New York State would be cut by approximately $26 million, eliminating services for approximately 4,300 children in New York.

Earlier this year, Congresswoman Lowey highlighted how the misguided federal cuts are impacting local Head Start services, including children losing access to Head Start, layoffs of personnel, and reductions in literacy programs.


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