House Vote Imminent on Eisenhower Education Program
On the House’s floor schedule for later this week is debate on H.R. 3248, the “Dollars for the Classroom Act.” A vote is expected soon. This bill, introduced by Rep. Joseph Pitts (R-PA), would combine $2.74 billion in federal education funding into block grants, for states to use for their own education priorities (see FYIs #83 , 101 .) Of particular concern to science and math educators, one of the federal programs to be folded into the block grants is the Eisenhower Professional Development Program, which targets federal funds for teacher professional development, primarily in math and science.
In June, a statement opposing block granting of the Eisenhower program was endorsed by 37 societies, including the American Institute of Physics and six of its Member Societies: the Acoustical Society of America, the American Association of Physicists in Medicine, the American Association of Physics Teachers, the American Astronomical Society, The American Physical Society, and the American Vacuum Society. “The science, mathematics, and engineering community remains steadfastly opposed to proposals to transfer the U.S. Department of Education’s (DoEd) Eisenhower programs into an education block grant to the states,” it says. “If Eisenhower funding is shifted into a broader block grant, the resources available to states and localities specifically for mathematics and science education will be dramatically reduced. Such a change grossly undermines our nation’s efforts to improve student achievement in these subjects.... The Eisenhower State Grants program is critical to providing our schools with the effective science and mathematics teachers that our students deserve and must have to succeed.” Other signatories to the statement include the National Science Teachers Association and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
Pitts’ bill was the subject of heated discussion at a May 5 House Education and the Workforce Committee hearing. For the 31 DoEd programs that it would aggregate into block grants, the bill stipulates that 95 cents of every federal education dollar must reach the classroom. The Department of Education opposes this stipulation, declaring that funds used for programs outside of the classroom, such as professional development, are also of value. The debate over block granting was split largely along party lines, with Republicans arguing that state and local authorities know better than federal bureaucrats what local schools need. Democrats countered that the federal programs - which represent a small fraction of total education spending - target certain areas which are a national priority, benefit from a centralized focus, or meet needs unaddressed at the local level.
A similar “Dollars for the Classroom” bill (S. 1589) has been introduced in the Senate by Sen. Tim Hutchinson (R-AR), and awaits action by the Committee on Labor and Human Resources. The Eisenhower Professional Development Program is also incorporated into a block grant under the House’s version of the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill (H.R. 4274), passed by the House Appropriations Committee on July 14. This bill would also reduce Eisenhower funding from the President’s request of $335 million to $285 million. The Senate version (S. 2440), passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee on September 3, would provide the requested amount and would not block grant the Eisenhower program. These appropriations bills may reach the House and Senate floors, respectively, within the next week or two.
