From an e-mail from the Utah State Office of education on the affect of sequestration on Special Ed funding.
Latest news
on the sequestration:
·
The
White House issued a notice on Friday that companies working under government
contracts don’t have to provide notice of potential layoff because the
sequestration is still “uncertain”. Normally, this notice is required 60 days
prior to layoff, which coincidentally is right before the election. http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/memoranda/2012/m-12-19.pdf
·
The
White House also issued a report last week that describes in more detail the
cuts for each department (see attached). This report lists estimated
percentages, but does not have any information about how each specific federal
agency will handle the assigned cuts. For us, this means that we don’t know how
much of the cut will be taken at OSEP and how much will be passed on to States.
We also don’t know if this cut will change the minimum and maximum amounts that
are included in the IDEA formula. This report was prepared by the current
administration and includes a fair amount of finger pointing.
You’ll find the
Department of Education on page 60, and OSERS on page 61. The reduction for
OSEP is estimated at 8,.2%, or just over $1 billion. There is also a $2 million
reduction to the American Printing House for the Blind, which provides
specialized instructional materials for Utah students with visual impairment.
·
Both
parties agree that the sequestration poses a threat to national economic
growth. They are unable to agree on how to resolve the sequestration (new taxes
vs program cuts). Because of their inability to work together, sequestration is
still a very real possibility.
·
There
is still no move to change or adjust the expectation that LEAs meet the MOE and
Excess Costs requirements for state and local funds.
