March 31, 2013

Sequestration Hits Home With Education
By Jacqueline Williams

Among a string of meetings with both Republicans and Democrats to discuss sequestration, President Barack Obama greets House leaders before a meeting with the House Democratic Caucus at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., March 14. Standing with the President, from left, are: Assistant Democratic Leader James “Jim” Clyburn, D-S.C.; Chairman Xavier Becerra, D-Calif.; Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y.; Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.; Vice Chairman Joe Crowley, D-N.Y.; and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md. PHOTO: Pete Souza/The White House

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - With the sequestration in full effect, many students and educators are upset with the large budget cuts to education and lack of compromise in Washington.

“You always hear children are our future and how we must educate the younger generation, but I don’t see how the government expects us to do this if they are playing tug-of-war with them and their education,” said 42-year-old mother of a college junior at the University of California, Riverside, Roberta Martin.

Education is taking a big hit from the sequester, with approximately $3 billion being cut from education alone according to the National Education Association’s official website. Many education programs such as Head Start as well as after school programs for children will lose considerable amounts of funding. According to www.whitehouse.gov, the sequester will cause over 30,000 teachers and school faculty to lose their jobs.

“It’s a very scary thought because I cannot imagine or afford to lose my job. I never thought it would come to this because they’ve always found some way to figure everything out,” said 38-year-old Stephen Wright, a Corona, Calif. middle school teacher.

The country entered into this period of sequestration because Congress and the President failed to reach an agreement on how to reduce the deficit by $4 trillion. It is the result of a 2011 agreement that stated if an agreement was not met, automatic cuts would take place the first day of March. These spending cuts were originally constructed by Congress and President Obama to discourage its implementation and encourage compromise.

“The whole design of these arbitrary cuts was to make them so unattractive and unappealing that Democrats and Republicans would actually get together and find a good compromise of sensible cuts as well as closing tax loopholes and so forth. And so this was all designed to say we can't do these bad cuts; let’s do something smarter. That was the whole point of this so-called sequestration,” said President Obama according to www.whitehouse.gov.

With large cuts to defense, education, and many other areas, many people are frustrated with Congress and the president. “These cuts hurt everyone, it’s not just one area either, and it bothers me that the people that are most affected by it are those who really cannot afford to have anything else against them - people are struggling to get by,” said 21-year-old San Jose State University Junior,Vanessa Parks.

Students enrolled in colleges and universities are also upset with the sequestration state as it affects their tuition rates. “I can barely afford to pay for school now and it’s not easy getting loans, this sequester is just making it that much harder on me to be honest,” said 20-year-old Shaw University student Paul Schatz.

Students who are enrolled in school that are also enrolled in the military are affected by the sequester as well. There will be a decrease in the benefits received by those in uniform, including a cut in tuition assistance. This poses a large problem because many young people often join the military so they can get financial assistance for school.

“I joined the Navy so that I could go back to school and these tuition assistance cuts are upsetting, especially because many of us risk our lives every day and earn and deserve those benefits,” said 22-year-old Navy officer Chadwick Johnson.

Many are hoping that something is done quickly and a compromise is met in order to avert the sequester because of its harmful effects. Wright stated his faith in an end to the sequester, “I don’t think this will  go on too much longer, but only because I think the federal government will eventually understand the disgust the public feels toward it all and act to fix it quickly.”