The Leading Edge

THIS BLOG POST HAS BEEN UPDATED. While you can still access the links below, the latest edition of the sequestration toolkit can be found here.

CAUTION: The information below may be outdated.

AASA is happy to re-release an updated version of its sequestration toolkit. In addition to the original overview slideshow and initial sequestration analysis, this updated version includes AASA’s latest economic impact survey, a Congressional Call to Action Invoice and updated resources and talking points from fellow advocacy groups.

• Sequestration & the Schools (Audio Ppt): These slides are a great overview of sequestration, what it is, how we got here, how it will impact schools, and what you can do.
• Cut Deep: How the Sequester Will Impact the Nation’s Schools: AASA’s July 2012 report looking at how schools are bracing for sequestration and how they rate the quality/quantity of information about sequestration that they have access to.
• Survey Says: Superintendents & Sequestration: These talking points are excerpted from AASA's March 2012 economic impact survey, where school administrators weighed in on sequestration and state/local capacity to absorb the cuts and other opinion questions.
• Congressional Call to Action: Sequestration Invoice: All you need is your current Title I, IDEA, Title II and Career/Tech funding levels. Plug them in to this excel spreadsheet, and it does the rest, calculating the cuts at both the 7.8% and 9.1% levels. Save the updated spreadsheet and share it with your Congressional delegation, letting them see how the cuts would impact your district.
• ‘How To’ guide to completing the spreadsheet and template letter (PDF)
• AASA’s Sequestration Invoice (excel)
• AASA’s Customizable Sequestration Letter (word)
• Impact on Advance Funded Programs: An AASA blog post clarifies how the cuts would impact those federal education programs (like Title I and IDEA) that are advance funded. This post has been updated to reflect guidance issued by the Department in late July.
• Our friends at the Committee for Education Funding generated a series of charts diagramming how the sequester will impact the advance funded programs.
• Impact of Sequestration on Federal Education Programs (NEA): National Education Association released a detailed analysis of how the sequester will impact education programs. Each page includes a calculation for the dollar amount that would be cut, the number of students that would be impacted, the potential job losses, and identifies a comparable funding year (almost all are pre-recession levels).
• CEF Stop the Cuts Talking Points: Check out CEF’s sequestration fact sheet.
• NDD Coalition: Education funding is part of the non-defense discretionary portion of the federal budget. In an effort to raise a collective voice about all NDD programs and the threat of sequestration, the education community joined forces with the health and other NDD communities to raise awareness about sequestration. Resources include talking points, FAQs and social media tips.