Teacher Megan Allen told federal lawmakers that sequestration will hurt her needy students.
The school experience of each and every child in our state matters, but the quality of 8,000 students’ experiences stands to be diminished if arbitrary budget cuts known as the sequester take effect on March 1.
According to the White House, Connecticut will lose
• approximately $8.7 million in Title I education funds targeted to our state, putting the jobs of 120 teacher and aides who serve the neediest children at risk,
•approximately 6.3 million in special education IDEA funding that covers the salaries of about 80 teachers, aides, and other staff who help children with disabilities,
•Head Start and Early Head Start services for approximately 500 children, and
•childcare services for 200 low-income children.
Connecticut students are not alone in being at risk of diminished educational quality. A fifth-grade teacher from Florida told Congress last week what the cuts will mean for her students.
Megan Allen said she would like Congress to think about the faces of students who will be impacted. Children like “the 36 students sitting in my classroom who depend on lower class sizes, who depend on the adults who could potentially lose their jobs, who depend on extra social supports.”
She continued, “These students have big dreams, and with Title 1 funds, with IDEA funds, we’re able to help support them to reach these dreams — and this is all on the line.”
When you hear about the school cuts, do you think of children in your classroom? Share what those children need and deserve in terms of federal fiscal support.
