‘Heroes to Teachers’ no longer funded next FY

As fiscal year 2018 creeps closer, the Public School System prepares to lose at least one program under Title V of the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act.

Title V of the NCLB mandates PSS to use funding for promoting informed parental choice and innovative programs. One of such programs under Title V, the Heroes to Teachers program, is getting hit as the 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act is implemented in fiscal year 2018 this Oct. 1, 2017.

The ESSA changes NCLB’s Title V to the “state innovation and local flexibility,” which allows for funding transferability, a pilot program for weighted student funding, and a hefty amount of funds for rural education programs up to 2020.

PSS secures funding through consolidated grants to fund for programs under NCLB’s Title V, which include the Heroes to Teachers program ($546,773), student competitions ($235,945), community education ($185,578), Advanced Placement programs ($78,510), and accreditation programs ($84,443), and totals a little over $1.1 million of the $12.42 million of consolidated grants PSS received in fiscal 2017.

“Human resource has already sent out a memo to [the 16, formerly 23, participants of the Heroes to Teachers program] explaining to them that there are other positions available in PSS. We can no longer federally fund them as the Heroes to Teachers program,” PSS federal programs officer Tim Thornburgh told Board of Education members during a meeting last Friday.

To compensate for the cut, Title I of NCLB, which is used for “improving the academic achievement of the disadvantaged” is transformed into “improving basic programs operated by state and local educational agencies.”

“It was decided to increase Title I,” said Thornburgh.

The new ESSA Title I provides an increase in funding tools, including an estimated $5.1 million increase for PSS.

The increase for Title I, however, is not without a catch.

“[The increase takes effect] provided U.S. Congress passes a budget and keeps an increase in Title I,” said Thornburgh.

In an interview, Thornburgh confirmed with reporters that PSS is losing the ability to consolidate grants for the Heroes to Teachers program under Title V.

“Overall, we are getting a substantial increase,” said Thornburgh when asked about possible cuts to federal funding in regards to PSS.

Thornburgh said that, according to Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP), PSS estimates to see a $5-million increase. The additional funding has yet to be confirmed, although the Thornburgh said that everything at the moment is speculation.

“Our budget could be anywhere from the current $12 million to $15 million. It all depends on what the Congress enacts,” he said.

Congress has yet to act on President Donald Trump’s proposed budget. Trump’s budget plan reveals a $59 billion education budget for fiscal 2018, cutting $9.2 billion from the 2017 education budget.