Title II, the $2 billion grant program for teacher development, will likely remain intact for fiscal year 2018, despite President Donald Trump’s proposal to eliminate the program entirely.
Congressional leaders unveiled a $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill last night, and the House has already passed the package. The Senate must act by midnight on Friday to avoid a government shutdown. Trump is expected to sign the bill.
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Title II money is used for teacher professional development and class-size reduction. Trump’s budget proposal eliminated the grant program, saying that the money is “spread too thinly to have a meaningful impact on student outcomes. In addition, there is limited evidence that teacher professional development … has led to increases in student achievement.” This is not a new argument—the Obama administration also questioned the effectiveness of the program and decreased its budget from nearly $3 billion to about $2.3 billion.
But the proposal to eliminate Title II sparked backlash among the education community. Title II advocates said state and district leaders are working to improve professional development, in large part due to the Every Student Student Succeeds Act, which calls for PD programs to be evidence-based….
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