Afton Partners

The Fiscal Year 2019 budget proposal would cut the entire $32 million currently allocated to the program, which also provides state education agencies with resources and technical assistance. The administration justifies the cut by saying that the program has “already successfully completed its mission” and that 47 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. territories have already received grants to help them build these systems.

While the budget overall proposes spending increases for key Trump campaign promises, such as expanding the military and immigration enforcement, the president’s proposal looks to slash the Education Department’s budget by more than 5 percent, cutting back the agency’s $63.2 billion in discretionary funding by $3.6 billion. The Trump administration initially sought much steeper cuts — totaling $8 billion — but the administration released an addendum after Congress reached a two-year spending deal last week.

He asked Democrats to join him passing an infrastructure bill, without specifically asking for new resources for school construction—a priority for many in the education community. There was almost no mention of K-12 schools in the speech, including Trump’s favorite issue: school choice. Trump did ask lawmakers to enact paid family leave, and gave a quick nod to the importance of career and technical education.

The most significant change for schools in the Republican tax reform plan is likely how state and local taxes are handled because of its potential impact on school funding. But why? And where could it have the greatest impact?

The House and Senate are working to reconcile their versions of a tax plan, but one thing is certain: Big changes are ahead for the nation’s schools and colleges…On average, nearly half of public schools’ funding (45 percent) comes from local taxes, often property taxes. In the past, when locals hiked these taxes to help pay for their schools, the federal government made the hike hurt less with that SALT deduction. So imagine, if Congress caps the property tax deduction, for high earners who already pay a lot — in places like New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, even Texas — a new hike would hurt more than it used to.

A provision of the House and Senate tax bills could increase how much schools pay for long-term debt, and subsequently shrink resources for students and teachers. That’s the view of the Association of School Business Officials International, which represents officials who oversee budgets, capital costs, and maintenance in K-12 and in higher education. Their beef is that the bill would no longer allow districts to get a tax exemption for certain bonds that helps them pay off outstanding debt at lower interest rates.

One big challenge: Budget cuts in recent years have left large swaths of state education departments squeezed on the capacity to carry out the training, data collecting, and innovation necessary to fully exploit that flexibility.

Proposed changes to the federal tax code unveiled by Republican lawmakers at the start of this month would affect teachers’ tax burden, private and charter schools, and significant amounts of funding for public schools.