Duncan Makes Case For Averting Sequestration On "Face The Nation."

As the March 1 deadline for massive spending cuts under Federal budget sequestration looms, the story has dominated national press coverage. Several reports touch on Education Secretary Arne Duncan's appearance on CBS's Face The Nation (2/25) as part of the Administration's push to persuade Congress to adopt a plan to avert the cuts.

 

NBC Nightly News (2/24, lead story, 2:25, Holt) reported in the lead story of an abbreviated broadcast, "Fewer than five days till the budget axe falls, barring some last minute deal, the Obama Administration is trying to add to the urgency with Cabinet secretaries offering dire warnings on Sunday morning TV." Education Secretary Arne Duncan is shown saying, "And there are literally teachers now who are getting pink slips, who are getting notices they can't come back this fall."

Several political blogs focused on Duncan's Sunday comments. The Washington Post (2/25, Sullivan) reports in its 'The Fix' blog that Duncan "warned Sunday that thousands of teachers around the country could lose their jobs as a result of the automatic across-the-board spending cuts slated to begin Friday, barring action by lawmakers." The Post quotes Duncan saying on "Face the Nation," "As many of 40,000 teachers could lose their jobs. There are literally teachers now who are getting pink slips, who are getting notices they can't come back this fall." The Post adds that Duncan "argued that there was virtually nothing he could do to shield essential education programs from the federal spending cuts, which are set to begin Friday, if lawmakers don't act to avert them," quoting him saying, "We don't have any ability with dumb cuts like this to figure out what the right thing to do is. It just means that a lot more children will not get the kinds of services and opportunities they need."

 

The Hill (2/25, Becker) also covers Duncan's appearance on "Face the Nation," reporting in its 'Blog Briefing Room' blog that Duncan "said Sunday that sequestration would have a devastating affect on school systems around the country. Duncan said that teachers around the country were already being informed that they won't be retained, and that some 40,000 teachers in all could lose their jobs." Duncan warned of cuts to Head Start and Impact Aid students, The Hill reports, quoting him saying, "We don't have any ability with dumb cuts like this to figure out what the right thing to do is. It just means a lot more children will not get the kinds of opportunities and services they need." The Hill, noting that other such Cabinet members as Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood are also speaking out on potential impacts of cuts, concludes by reporting that Duncan also lamented the issue's taking focus from the gun violence debate, quoting him saying, "That's where I think we should be spending our time, is talking about how we reduce gun violence. That's the productive use of our time. Spending time talking about stupid issues like this in Congress doesn't make sense."