Why are we not surprised? Presidential VP nominee Paul Ryan’s budget proposal would cut federal funding from schools and disproportionately hurt students from low-income homes and Native American backgrounds.
DETAILS: Paul Ryan Defends His Lies
A New America Foundation study found that Ryan’s plan to reduce federal spending by 20 percent would drastically cut education programs to school districts that heavily rely on government aide. 77 percent of the 1,500-plus school districts are currently granted 20 percent or more of their annual revenue, which means Ryan’s cutbacks would cause them to lose millions of dollars.
As reported by the New America Foundation:
Many districts receive funds under Impact Aid, a federal program that provides funds to school districts with high proportions of “federally impacted” students like American Indians. Because those districts do not benefit from property tax revenue from people living on Indian reservations, the federal government makes up for that lost revenue. For example, Sanders Unified School District in Arizona had an enrollment of 1,049 in 2010 and nearly 97 percent of those students identified as American Indian. Of that district’s approximately $15 million in annual revenue, just over $9 million comes from federal sources. If Congress were to cut spending by 20 percent, Sanders Unified could lose as much as $1.8 million, 12 percent of its annual revenue.
Large school districts would also suffer from immense effects since they rely on more than 16 percent of federal funds for their annual revenue. For instance, Chicago, the third largest school district in the US, receives about 24 percent, or $1.2 billion, of its total revenue from federal funding from government programs that target low-income students such as Free Reduced Price Meals.
But, if Ryan’s plan goes into effect, Chicago would be hit with a $244 million loss.
On the other hand, wealthier school districts, which tend to be predominantly white and rely much less on federal sources, would not be nearly as affected.
As a country, we are responsible for helping the most vulnerable people, especially the children, in our society. Paul Ryan’s taxcuts do the exact opposite of that.
SOURCE: New America Foundation
