From The Marketing Side
Budget Winners
The budget increases investments in public and private school choice by $ 1.4 billion compared to the 2017 annualized continuing resolution CR level , ramping up to an annual total of $ 20 billion , and an estimated $ 100 billion including matching State and local funds . This additional investment in 2018 includes a $ 168 million increase for charter schools , $ 250 million for a new private school choice program , and a $ 1 billion increase for Title I , dedicated to encouraging districts to adopt a system of student-based budgeting and open enrollment that enables Federal , State , and local funding to follow the student to the public school of his or her choice .
Special Ed and Title I Funding Unchanged
Two of the Department of Education ’ s largest expenditures in K-12 education , special education and Title I funds to help poor children , would remain unchanged compared to federal funding levels in the first half of fiscal 2017 . The $ 13 billion IDEA funding , on par with the prior year , provides states and school districts with resources needed to provide high quality special education and related services to students and young adults with disabilities . However , high-poverty schools are likely to receive fewer dollars than in the past because of a new law that allows states to use up to 7 percent of Title I money for school improvement before distributing it to districts .
Proposed Cuts and Elimination to Other Programs
To help pay for these new investments , the Trump budget proposes eliminating or cutting at least 22 programs including $ 1.2 billion for after-school programs that serve 1.6 million children , most of whom are poor , and $ 2.1 billion for teacher training and class-size reduction . Other reductions include grants to states for career and technical education , which would lose $ 168 million ( down 15 percent ); adult basic literacy instruction , which would lose $ 96 million ( down 16 percent ); and Promise Neighborhoods , intended to build networks of support for children in needy communities , which would lose $ 13 million ( down 18 percent ).
Opposition from Congress
At a June 6 hearing of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that funds the Department of Education , Chairman Roy Blunt opened the hearing by expressing his belief that the proposed education budget would not survive congressional examination .
“ This is a difficult budget request to defend ,” Blunt told Education Secretary Betsy DeVos that day . “ I think the significant cuts to things like career and technical education , TRIO and federal work study will make it harder for students to get into and complete college and find well-paying jobs . The outright elimination of several large formula grant programs — like the 21st Century Learning Centers — I think will be all but impossible to get through this committee .”
Observers of the budget approval process predict that even with a majority Republican Congress , House and Senate leaders will reduce the degree of budget cuts citing a history of the practice . But it is clear that the new direction of the U . S . Department of Education is to promote school choice . This could have significant implications for school marketers .
The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Poorer ?
The end objective of school choice could be to move students ( and teachers and administrators ) into better performing schools and districts and away from poorer ones . We know from our research of the market that the better the performance of the school the higher the likelihood that the school is located in an affluent community . It ’ s entirely possible that the new administration ’ s education policies will
make the rich schools richer and poor schools poorer .
Over time , will we find discretionary funds — monies spent by educators in areas such as school supplies , supplemental materials , physical education , and other products and services that education market companies produce and distribute — concentrated in these more affluent schools ? In essence will the viable school market shrink in size ? It certainly seems within the realm of possibility .
And , aside from the undesirable social consequences of “ abandoning ” certain communities because there is insufficient public support for a local school , will school marketers benefit because more potential sales dollars are focused in less schools resulting in lower promotion and sales expense necessary to reach them ? Will the market grow because more potential sales are focused in fewer locations ?
It is still a bit too early to tell exactly how we should adjust our marketing strategies . But it is clear that we need to watch closely how quickly school choice progresses and how it impacts the spending power of individual schools and districts . Our current marketing strategies have been defined by how No Child Left Behind influenced the propensity of schools and districts to learn about and purchase our products and services . Clearly we are entering a new era . n
BOB STIMOLO , EDmarket ’ s Official School
Market Consultant , is President of School Market Research Institute ( SMRI ) a full service marketing and research firm . Please join our quarterly survey of school marketers . Only those that participate receive complete , detailed results . The survey is free and can be completed in less than one minute . To participate visit http :// www . smriinc . com / survey . html .
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