A bill to temporarily fund government operations through March 18, 2011, was passed by the House and Senate and sent on to the White House for President Obama's signature into law. Currently, all federal operations were funded through a short-term continuing resolution (CR) that was set to expire on Friday, March 4, 2011. Though the federal fiscal year started on October 1, 2010, Congress and the President have not been able to reach a resolution on federal funding.
As part of the agreement, an additional $4 billion in spending cuts were incorporated into the bill including the elimination/termination of 14 programs operated by the U.S. Department of Education, including:
- Striving Readers
- Even Start
- Smaller Learning Communities
- Leveraging Education Assistance Partnerships (LEAP)
- B. J. Stupak Olympic Scholarship Program
- Thurgood Marshall Legal Scholarships Program
- Tribally Controlled Postsecondary Vocational Institutions
- Arts in Education
- Exchanges with Historic Whaling and Trading Partners
- National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
- National Writing Project
- Reading is Fundamental
- Teach for America
- Special Olympics Education Programs
The President and congressional leaders now have two additional weeks to reach a long-term funding solution for fiscal year 2011 (which ends on September 30, 2011), pass another short-term funding bill, or risk a federal government shutdown.
If you have any questions, please contact Neil Snyder, ASHA's director of federal advocacy, by phone at 800-498-2071, ext. 5614, or by e-mail at nsnyder@asha.org.