We are already behind in the money needed in our children’s schools here in the Pioneer Valley. Since the 1950s the amount of money from the federal government for education has plummeted.
As our country emerges from the grips of the pandemic, our kids and communities still have needs to be met. And yet, with all this in mind, Republican extremists in the House of Representatives are working to slash funding as part of the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies funding bill. Now is the time to address our kids’ challenges, not ignore them.
If their bill passes, it would cut funding to $63.8 billion dollars from education, slash Title 1 grants by 80%, and cut billions of dollars from programs assisting English language learners, Head Start, IDEA, and more, devastating millions of students who rely on these programs.
Make no mistake: These cuts are a wholesale attack on public schools — the schools that 90% of our country’s children attend.
But the cuts won’t stop there. The House bill would decimate funding for job training, cancer research, health initiatives for mental health, opioid use, HIV/Aids, and more. It would continue the Republican Party’s attacks on women’s health by cutting programs to support maternal health, eliminating programs that provide contraception and health services, and would add amendments to push their Draconian agenda on banning abortion and making reproductive health care harder to access.
The education, health and economic opportunity of our nation are of the upmost importance. The fiscal year 2024 appropriations bill should be growing investments in these areas, not making Draconian cuts that decimate the public services our students, families and communities rely on. I strongly urge our lawmakers to reject this bill.
Paul Jablon
Greenfield