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Less school funding exactly where we need more

By William Schwandt

I am deeply alarmed about federal money for public education, science and health programs being withheld by the Trump administration — and now being targeted by Congress.

I am also deeply concerned about the sweeping funding cuts that happened last week — including reductions in Social Security Administration staffing, veterans’ care, rural internet access and family housing. These cuts will have serious consequences. However, my primary focus remains on education, where we are seeing a concerted effort to strip away federal support and accountability.

We have seen the Trump administration and its allies in Congress push to move federal funding into “block grants” to states, which would be unaccountable and open to abuse.

This is not how federal education programs were designed to be used.

In Minnesota, federal school funding accounts for about 10 percent of overall public school funding. If that money disappears, it will further harm already underfunded programs such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; Title I of the core Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which helps equalize educational opportunity; and even Head Start programs for preschoolers whose families otherwise could not afford any early childhood education.

Allow me to describe what this means on the local level. With many school districts in Minnesota cutting budgets right now (about $5 million in my district alone), this slashing of resources by the federal government will require the state and localities to make up the difference (roughly $18 million where I work). That is going to reduce programming for all students — but it could be potentially devastating for students who receive services under the special education, anti-poverty and preschool programs I just mentioned.

Budget cuts in recent years have already increased our class sizes and reduced staffing by teachers, paraprofessionals and other school employees. I don’t see local school boards coming up with huge wads of cash if federal funding is cut. Instead, I see finger-pointing and acrimony as our residents are forced to fight over crumbs. Do we fix the potholes, stock our libraries, upgrade our ambulances or staff our schools?

It will mean that students who need specialized or extra services are going to suffer a lot. There will be fewer paraprofessional positions for children who need more or different instruction. Teachers with already unmanageable class sizes, and social workers with sky-high caseloads, are going to see their workloads increase. This will in turn balloon the ever-growing staff turnover and shortages.

Fifteen years ago, then-Gov. Tim Pawlenty made what can only be called a political decision and slashed school funding in Minnesota. Our schools are still struggling to recover, despite increases in school funding for more than 10 years.

Fresh cuts in federal funding will erase any gains we’ve made in Minnesota and again cause budgeting problems for years, if not decades.

William Schwandt is an elementary school special education paraprofessional and the president of the Bloomington Federation of Paraprofessionals in Minnesota.

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