FEDERAL DEFICITS, BUDGETS, AND EDUCATIONAL FUNDING

WHEREAS, the federal government faces a deficit of unprecedented scale, which has doubled during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, and this deficit mortgages the living standards of future Americans; and

WHEREAS, federal domestic programs are not the source of increases in the deficit, having declined by 1.3 percent as a part of gross national product since FY 1980, but the increased deficit results primarily from an erosion of tax revenues, especially since the corporate and individual tax cut of 1981, and from an acceleration of defense spending; and

WHEREAS, federal education programs have lost an average of 16 percent of their purchasing power since FY 1980, with Chapter One serving 600,000 fewer students, the federal share of education of the handicapped "excess costs" down from 12 percent to 7.4 percent, and, when adjusted for inflation, vocational education funds down by 29 percent, impact aid funds down by 37 percent, and other programs comparably affected; and

WHEREAS, education is this society's best investment in the future, its strongest base for national security, and its greatest asset in international economic competition; and

WHEREAS, as stated more than three years ago in "A Nation at Risk," the American public believes public education should be the top priority for additional federal funds, a higher priority than developing the best industrial system or the strongest military force:

RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers call upon the Congress of the United States and the administration of President Reagan to renew the federal government's commitment to education by restoring the full value of education funding lost since FY 1980 and by making the investment necessary to lead a national resurgence in American education.