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How Funding Cuts Would Impact Education

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    AFT president Randi Weingarten weighs in on federal funding for education.

  • Duration 4:06
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And now we talk all the time here about the military but here's another area where automatic cuts are coming to no debt deal is reached by the end of the year.

Education Congressional Budget Office says federal education programs would lose about five billion dollars or close to 8% of their budget.

We've Randi Weingarten president of the American Federation of Teachers with us right now from DC.

I -- you wanna avoid that worst case scenario for obvious reasons it's almost like what what we talked about -- -- -- with the military but aren't some.

Education cuts going forward this environment in -- Well look we've had.

First up let me just say our prayers are with President Bush and I hope for him first I hope he has a speedy recovery yes.

But you know look we had cut after cut after cut.

In education the last four years remembered in this recessionary environment most of dollars in education are local and state dollars and we've seen almost 300000.

Teacher layoffs.

Leasing class sizes spiraling up and what happens is that this is for work.

The kids who need it most and so what the federal dollars in education gulf war are really targeted programs like.

Early childhood education.

What we know that that's really important 100000 kids who get it now wouldn't get it sure -- title one funds.

Go for helping kids to learn how to read in urban areas something that is absolutely essential.

So what right now because of all the cuts we've had thus far.

If you had midyear cuts in education that like this -- see a lot a lot a lot of kids.

In -- here's the thing I'm thinking about when -- -- that military comparison is that everybody says all the time that we obviously need a strong military.

-- the United States of America but times have changed has more technology the types of wars that we -- -- change so maybe you could still have a strong military.

If you spend the money in a Smart way and a similar case a lot of credit given.

-- Duncan and he -- Obama administration for at least one other programs race to the top where there were billions of dollars but.

Maybe not the amount of money you would think that got itself a lot of change so the states got -- competition they -- we want this federal money order to change the way.

That we that you know that the in the -- way that.

We -- keep it in education we're gonna try to get the money but even if we don't we've already made the changes.

So they they change these sentence -- they didn't spend the money I've been doing it so.

This is future.

-- but this is what has happened here.

Which is that -- -- top has become an unfunded mandate because there's lots of states.

That -- actually for example adopted the common core price which is really really good really important -- have.

Curriculum and standards aligned with what kids need to -- -- be able -- Do but they're doing that we not a good thing that they're doing now without the money -- and some ways if they had money tied up.

Except that you can't do that without the money meaning.

We can't because that is rhetorical as opposed to real meaning if we really want to help kids have project based instruction.

We can't just say that that's important to do we actually have to do -- which means that.

Teachers have to have the curriculum material.

I have to get together to actually learn the new stuff.

And then to actually teach kids and all of that takes resources your point about not made wasting money is really important.

But we got to spend on the real things and when teachers tell me as they had in Cleveland that they have fifty kids in the -- you can.

Actually differentiate instruction with fifty kids in the class so we have to make sure that back in -- -- really important for our future.

Art art kept and that's part of the reason why sequestration is so bad and why we're all -- -- on Capitol Hill today.

Focusing on how you get enough revenue just.

Which the American people instead we need to have more revenues and there's a bill on the house floor right now -- -- 98%.

Of the people in America with still have their tax cuts.

Right the house passed that bill.

Then there's a way of getting to a balanced.

Approach for today we have to leave it there but we'll continue this Randi Weingarten thank you very much okay thank you.

We wait.

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