BY NICK ALBANO, Editor
Due to the signing of the Budget Control Act of 2011, the United States is headed toward a fiscal cliff that is set for the end of 2012. Without action, the government will be required to enact across the board spending cuts and tax hikes. The Congressional Budget Office, an independent branch of Congress, states that on Jan. 1, 2013, $110 billion in cuts to federal spending on defense and other domestic programs will take place.
It is predicted that without action on the fiscal cliff, the economy will fall into another recession, crippling it when it just started to recover. The situation could have a direct impact on Kaneland. Of the $110 billion that may be cut, $4.8 billion will come from education. This means states like Illinois, who already are behind on many payments to public schools.These schools will have even less money to work with, affecting the education public schools can provide. The areas of greatest impact, however, are special education and aid to schools with significant populations of lower income students.
“Most federal dollars flow through the state to specific problems. Federal dollars primarily go to special education, and Title 1, which supports education and reading to students with lower incomes,” Kaneland Superintendent Dr. Jeff Schuler said.
Title 1 is currently the nation’s largest federally funded educational program with $14 billion spent annually. In order to apply for the program, schools must have a minimum 40 percent student body under the poverty line. Currently, in the Kaneland District, only two elementary schools receive Title 1 benefits. While Kaneland High School is not eligible for Title 1, local high schools such as East Aurora and West Aurora do receive Title 1 support.
While cuts to special education and Title 1 is significant there is a silver lining. The majority of income generated by Kaneland will not be affected and day to day operations will continue.
“If the fiscal cliff happens, it will affect Kaneland, but it will not be as bad as the impact of cuts in state dollars or a loss in local resources.” Dr. Schuler said.
Currently, Kaneland’s top two sources of revenue are local tax levies (80 percent) and State based income (12 percent).
Currently on Capitol Hill, legislators are debating how best to secure financial security for the country.
“This fiscal cliff is a critical point in our countries financial future, what Congress must do is compromise which they have not done in the last four years,” senior Sean Flamand said.
Failure to compromise on the debt ceiling crisis back in 2011 is what essentially put the fiscal cliff into place.
“We have to address the debt that our country has created. I believe that we have to cut spending in places where they can be cut such as social programs, and when it comes to raising taxes, this is not the time to raise them because they will only further hurt small business and stall our recovery,”senior Joe Kuipers said.
If Congress is not able to act, and allows politics to get in the way of solutions, and we go over the fiscal cliff, it is projected that the economy will stall and everyone will be affected. But there is still hope.
“I am hopeful that they can find a solution. I hope elected officials are able to find a compromise that helps future generations but yet has protection for our current needs,” Dr. Schuler said.