Giving  Compass' Take:

• Right now an education funding compromise is going through Congress so that the Education Department can finalize its spending bill by the end of September. 

• Will any changes in the education budget affect ongoing teacher shortages? 

• Read about the burden of education benefits spending. 


A compromise Education Department spending bill, the first year-long funding bill for the department to be passed in nearly a decade, is speeding toward final passage ahead of a Sept. 30 deadline.

The House is expected to consider the measure when it returns from recess next week, though conservatives may try to split the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education portion from the part funding the Defense Department to get more leverage in negotiations, Politico reported.

Major K-12 funding programs, like Title I grants for low-income students and grants for students with disabilities, saw small increases, each under 1 percent. States will get $15.9 billion for Title I and $13.2 billion under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Among the biggest increases was a 10 percent boost to funding for homeless students, who numbered about 1.2 million in the 2014-15 school year, the most recent for which federal data is available. The programs would get $94 million next year.

Here are five more things to know about the bill:

  1. Lawmakers offer another increase for school safety.
  2. Charter schools are again a major winner.
  3. Congress again ignores the administration’s requests for cuts, private school choice.
  4. Changes on desegregation, school facility study stand.
  5. Congress expressed skepticism on department reorganization.

Read the full article about education funding compromise by Carolyn Phenicie