Sequestration--------what is it anyway? You better know.

Sequestration: What You Need to Know On August 2, 2011, President Obama signed into law the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA), increasing our nation’s debt limit and imposing a series of measures to limit spending and decrease the nation’s debt.
The BCA calls for $900 million in cuts to discretionary programs, including education, over the next decade. It also created a Joint Select Committee (referred to as the "Supercommittee") made up of members from the House and Senate, Democrats and Republicans charged with finding $1.2 trillion more in cuts over the next decade. If the Supercommittee failed to identify this savings, or Congress failed to approve the Supercommittee’s recommendation, automatic cuts would impact every federal program not specifically excluded on January 1, 2013.

Programs Excluded from BCA’s Across the Board Cuts (Sequestration):
Social Security, Medicaid, CHIP, Food Stamps, Child Nutrition, Veterans Benefits, certain tax credits, Federal retirement benefits, and Medicare up to a capped amount.
The Supercommittee failed, and now sequestration will begin, unless Congress and the Administration change the law. At the time of publication, several members of the House of Representatives have proposed a bill that would prohibit sequestration from impacting Department of Defense programs, but there has not been any similar legislation proposed to address education.
The Congressional Budget Office, the nonpartisan office that advises Congress on the implications of its proposals has estimated that sequestration will mean a cut of approximately 8% to all education programs. This means that the entire U.S. Department of Education’s budget will be reduced by approximately $3.5 billion.
Expected Cuts Starting January 1, 2013:
IDEA Part B Grants to States CUT by $903 Million
IDEA Part B Section 619 Program CUT by $29 Million
IDEA Part C Infants & Toddlers CUT by $35 Million
IDEA Part D National Programs CUT by $19 Million
Special Education Research CUT by $4 Million These cuts will be felt by every single school in the nation and will impact educators’ abilities to serve children and youth with disabilities appropriately. Furthermore, they come at a time when other cuts have made it impossible to not reduce essential services. CEC calls on Congress to consider the potential impact of this across-the- board cut on children and youth, families, professionals and communities before allowing these cuts to deny resources and supports to those who need them most. Avoid a sequester by passing a balanced deficit reduction measure.
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http://www.cec.sped.org/Content/NavigationMenu/PolicyAdvocacy/CECPolicyResources/Sequestration.pdf