The legislative change Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) has been advocating for all year may come to fruition this month as the U.S. House and Senate are set to vote on his proposal to change a provision of the No Child Left Behind Act.
Currently, NCLB dictates federal funds used to train teachers be allocated with a “hold harmless” provision, meaning states will not lose the funds even if their population declines.
Burr’s proposal will reconfigure the way these funds are distributed so that states with growing populations receive more funding at the expense of states with declining populations. North Carolina will be one of the bill’s prime beneficiaries and will see a $24 million increase in the federal funds it receives each year.
“After years of pretending to steer limited federal dollars to our poorest children, we are now actually getting that funding into the communities that need it most,” Burr said in a press release.
Originally, Burr suggested the “hold harmless” provision be immediately scrapped, which was met with intense opposition from the states who stand to lose millions of dollars as a result of the change.
Burr then proposed an amended plan, where the provision would be phased out over a seven-year period. This version is the one slated for Congressional vote this month.
“It seems like a sensible way to proceed,” said Matt Ellinwood, policy analyst for the N.C. Justice Center. “Changing funding formulas to take a lot of money out of a school district can always cause havoc, so it’s a good idea to phase out the hold harmless provision and direct money to growing populations.”
States in the northeast, where populations have declined in recent years, stand to lose the most from the change. New York in particular could lose more than 27 percent of its annual grant if the bill passes.
“The shrinking states have a justified concern,” said Ellinwood. “Having the seven-year delay, though, gives states time to figure out how they might close those gaps and make sure the teachers don’t suffer.”
