Each school year, military-family students attending public schools across the nation bring home a Federal Survey Card. Unlike flyers for upcoming PTA events or the school play, school administrators and teachers don’t want this card getting lost in your child’s backpack, because the information collected on these cards translates directly into dollars.
Public school districts typically rely on local taxes and fees for funding; districts or near tax -exempt federal lands have significantly less tax revenue to meet the needs of the schools and students. In 1950, Congress developed the Impact Aid Program to recognize the federal government’s responsibility to help finance public education in areas where it holds land. More than 1,100 school districts and over 10 million students are supported by Impact Aid each year, but Congress has not fully funded the program since 1969.
Bipartisan, bicameral legislation was recently reintroduced to work toward the full funding of Impact Aid. In mid-March, Reps. Mike Levin (D-Calif.) and Tom Cole (R-Okla.) and Sens. Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas introduced the Advancing Toward Impact Aid Full Funding Act (H.R. 1591 | S. 871).
[TAKE ACTION: Ask Congress to Pass the Advancing Toward Impact Aid Full Funding Act]
The legislation introduces a five-year plan to fully fund Impact Aid and provide necessary funding for disadvantaged schools. Funding from Impact Aid is direct, locally controlled, and flexible, allowing school district leaders to target funds supporting all students to wherever the needs are the greatest.
Each year, the Defense Department Impact Aid Program – through the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) – supplements the Federal Impact Aid Program and provides assistance to local education agencies (LEA) with specific concentrations of military-dependent children. Additional funds are allocated through the program to provide financial assistance to LEAs with at least two military-connected children with severe disabilities that meet certain special education cost criteria. In the FY 2023 NDAA, DoD authorized $50 million for Impact Aid and $20 million for Impact Aid for military children with severe disabilities.
DoD Impact Aid supplements help increase support for our military-connected students, but with more than 50 years of underfunding, the Advancing Toward Impact Aid Full Funding Act will help ensure the schools and communities affected by a federal presence can provide high-quality educational opportunities.
[FIND OUT MORE: Visit the National Association of Federally Impacted Schools]
How can you help? If you have a military-connected student, take the time to fill out the Federal Survey Card each school year. And ask your lawmakers to co-sponsor the Advancing Toward Impact Aid Full Funding Act to support all our military children.
