The looming federal sequestration threatens ever deeper cuts to local education budgets, and potentially to investments in technology and instructional materials. A recent survey report put out by the American Association of School Administrators gives a glimpse into what various districts and administrators are planning to do if Sequestration cut backs happen. Sequestration is the term for the automatic, across-the-board cuts included in the 2011 Budget Control Act (BCA), which raised the federal debt ceiling and put in place annual budget caps. Sequestration was designed as a consequence, should the Super Committee created by the BCA fail to reach its goal of identifying other means to meet the caps. It did fail, and so the cuts will become a reality in January 2013 unless alternative legislation is enacted. If implemented in 2013, the first-year share of the sequestration ($1.2 trillion over ten years) would translate into roughly 8-9% cuts across the board, including approximately $4 billion in education alone.
According to the AASA report, 52% of all districts surveyed said that they would cut back on technology purchases if the sequestration goes into effect, while 38% would defer textbook purchases and 25% reduce course offerings. The highest cuts would be in personnel and pay for teachers, expectedly since they make up such a large segment of districts budgets.
When specifically looking at the option of deferring technology purchases, there was not much variation by district demographics such as socioeconomic status, community type (rural/urban/suburban), or student enrollment. However, districts with a high number (70%+) of students in poverty (as measured by the free and reduced lunch program) responded more frequently that they would defer technology spending, with 64% in this category saying they would versus the 52% average across all districts. With 52% of all districts planning to defer technology purchases, the impact of Sequestration on education technology would be very noticeable. Especially since they come on top of previous zero funding of the NCLB II-D Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) grant program. Managing expectations and making a clear case for the cost savings potential of technology investments will be key for the sector if the Sequester continues. This provides both a challenge and opportunity in the upcoming budget climate.
Meanwhile, while a decision on sequestration could be made by Congress and the President in the coming weeks, more likely is that we will have to wait until after the election or even until the new Congress takes office in January around the time the cuts would go into effect. One bright spot for education is that Deputy Secretary Miller announced that the sequestration cuts would not impact most education programs until the 2013-2014 school budget year beginning July 1, 2013.
Lindsay Harman is Market and Policy Analyst for the SIIA Education Division.