Statement from Education Law Center Executive Director Robert Kim on Congressional Passage of Budget Reconciliation Bill
Today, the U.S. Congress has done the unthinkable and slashed funding to programs that the vast majority of Americans rely on for their health, safety and quality of life – to provide massive tax cuts for billionaires. This is one of the most unconscionable legislative acts in decades and a devastating blow to our nation’s unfulfilled quest to ensure equal opportunity for all Americans.
Education has not been spared in this bloodbath. This legislation establishes a federal tax credit school voucher scheme with no spending cap. Study after study shows that vouchers sweep aside civil rights protections, support segregation, decimate public school budgets, and do not improve student outcomes. Vouchers undermine public education, the cornerstone of our democracy, and have no place in federal policy. ELC, through our anti-voucher campaign, Public Funds Public Schools, will continue to fight vouchers using every tool at our disposal.
The impact of this legislation on education doesn’t stop there. Cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, the food benefits program for low-income families, will affect American students in multiple ways. We know that hungry students have a difficult time concentrating and learning in school. But SNAP is also connected with free school meals, since families eligible for SNAP benefits often automatically qualify for these meals. Medicaid, for its part, funds much needed school-based health services, reimbursing schools for services provided to students with disabilities and low-income students. The loss of these critical benefits is devastating.
We will carefully examine every nook and cranny of this historically damaging bill and do everything we can to challenge and defeat its worst excesses. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us in the coming weeks and months. Together, we can and will work to defend and protect public education and the millions of students and families that support and rely on their public schools.
Press Contact:
Sharon Krengel
Director of Policy, Strategic Partnerships and Communications
skrengel@edlawcenter.org
973-624-1815, x240