Impact Of Sequestration On Education

Sequestration: Impact on Defense and Education For over a year, budget cuts known as the sequester have been taking place in the United States. It has affected nearly all government funded departments and programs. Because of rising national debt, budgeting programs wisely is becoming increasingly important. However, sequestration is unwise because it requires departments to make extreme, unnecessary, and ill-considered cuts within their budgets. Among the departments taking the hardest cuts are the Department of Defense and the Department of Education. In 2011, the Budget Control Act was passed. It required a Joint Select Committee to be established in order to reduce the national debt by $1.2 trillion. They were to impose caps on discretionary
That will take a large toll on the readiness of the military because they do not have the necessary funds to train and equip not only soldiers, but also the civilian workforce within the military. In fact, sequestration results in the smallest civilian workforce in the history of the department (McKeon) because of furloughs and layoffs (Starken). They are required to cut $500 billion over a decade in addition to a previously planned $470 billion in budget cuts (Marshal). Over 100 acquisition programs must be restructured, delayed, or even ended. In the Air Force alone, up to 9% of its aircraft and up to 4% of its men will be cut (Pellerin). The USAF already lost 70 million man-hours of work during the 2013 furlough period which led to a loss of productivity and reductions, delays, and cancellations in work orders (Roulo). Starting in 2014, they also must cut 15% of flying hours which will harm the airmen’s readiness (Pellerin). In addition, sequestration leaves them with the smallest tactical fighter force in the history of the USAF (McKeon). The Air Force Chief of Staff General Mark A. Welsh III said “the Air Force was forced to use some readiness funds to pay for modernization”, because “[the Air Force’s] aircraft fleet is older than it’s ever been” (Roulo). Sequestration also results in the smallest Navy since before WWI, and the smallest ground force since before WWII (McKeon). The Department of Defense does recognize that they have to be a part of solving the national fiscal problems, but because personnel and infrastructure can’t be cut quickly enough, they are forced to take overly steep cuts in other areas that will harm the defense in the long run