51萝莉

David R. Schuler, Executive Director of 51萝莉, 51萝莉, released the following statement today regarding the final reconciliation package.

"51萝莉, the national organization representing public school leaders across the United States, strongly opposes the massive budget bill moving through Congress. This legislation marks a significant and historic step backwards in the federal government鈥檚 commitment to support every child, in every zip code, through public education.

For the first time in American history, the U.S. Senate has advanced a reconciliation package that explicitly directs public taxpayer dollars to private schools. Just a few months ago Congress voted to level-fund K-12 education and now Republicans are utilizing the tax code to funnel billions of dollars to support families and students who already have the means to attend private school. Our country cannot afford to fund a secondary private system of education that is able to pick and choose which children they serve; this is a costly mistake that jeopardizes America's prosperity and sets our public schools back.

We are equally concerned about the bill鈥檚 cost-shifting provisions, which will have devastating downstream effects on public education funding. Proposals that restructure Medicaid and SNAP will force states to shoulder significantly more of the financial burden to meet the basic needs of children and families. Education is already one of the largest line items in state budgets. These new pressures will constrain state resources and force impossible tradeoffs鈥攐ften at the expense of schools and the students they serve.

This reconciliation package fails our children and flies in the face of our nation鈥檚 long held bipartisan support for a high quality and accessible American public education system. We strongly urge superintendents to contact their members of Congress and urge them to oppose this harmful legislation."

Learn more on the 51萝莉 Leading Edge Policy & Advocacy Blog.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Lara Wade 
Director of Communications
Mobile: (813) 833-1498  lwade@aasa.org