FLISA: Education for Children, Fairness for Taxpayers

Statement on Staff Reductions at Department of Education

March 12, 2025

Last night, the Trump administration announced that they would be cutting 50% of the Department of Education workforce.  This is another step in the Trump administrations’ process to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education. 

With so much confusion during these times, FLISA is issuing this statement so that that the administration and Members of Congress clearly understand that every student in a Federal Lands (Impact Aid Section 7002) school is directly tied to and dependent upon Impact Aid.  

By acquiring what would otherwise be taxable properties, the federal government reduced the tax dollars that support our students, and an executive order cannot simply waive away that longstanding obligation.

The students in Federal Lands districts should not languish in underfunded schools, nor should citizens in their communities be burdened with higher taxes due to the federal government's actions.

In an informal survey conducted in January, leaders in Federal Lands school districts overwhelmingly indicated that eliminating Impact Aid Section 7002 would lead to reductions in teaching staff, resulting in larger class sizes. In addition, they universally stated that loss of this funding would cause the elimination of student programming, including tutoring, before and after school activities, and extracurriculars.

The Federal Lands Impacted Schools Association (FLISA) represents approximately 200 districts and nearly 900,000 children that have federally owned land within their boundaries.  

Every one of those students is directly tied to Impact Aid because of the loss of tax dollars due to a federal presence.  Federal impact aid is an obligation and a promise made to our students and communities that every administration and Congress is duty bound to maintain and support.Statement Department of Education 3-12-25

As a part of the NAFIS Spring Conference, FLISA members joined their impact aid partners in going to the hill to share with members of Congress and their staff the importance of impact aid for our students and communities. Here are some photos from the offices visited on March 11, 2025

Thanks to Jerry, Steph, Christine, Wes, and Mary  for their work in Washington at the  NAFIS Fly-In (formerly the Federal Relations Outreach (FRO) program). The accompanying photo shows the four of us (plus Tom the FLISA Executive Director) before joining an advocacy team which included a representative from each of the NAFIS Sub-groups. As usual, these meetings allowed us access to congressional offices that we might not otherwise reach. Additionally, working with representatives from other sub-groups provides NAFIS family members an opportunity to learn from each other while making our "pitch" to congress members. The entire FLISA community thanks you for your efforts.

With the numerous news outlets reporting a potential Executive Order aiming to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, FLISA wants to ensure that our school districts and Members of Congress understand that every student in a Federal Lands (Impact Aid Section 7002) school is directly tied to Impact Aid.

By acquiring what would otherwise be taxable properties, the federal government reduced the tax dollars that support our students, and an executive order cannot simply waive away that longstanding obligation.

The students in Federal Lands districts should not languish in underfunded schools, nor should citizens in their communities be burdened with higher taxes due to the federal government's actions.

In an informal survey conducted last week, leaders in Federal Lands school districts overwhelmingly indicated that eliminating Impact Aid Section 7002 would lead to reductions in teaching staff, resulting in larger class sizes. In addition, they universally stated that loss of this funding would cause the elimination of student programming, including tutoring, before and after school activities, and extracurriculars.

The Federal Lands Impacted Schools Association (FLISA) represents approximately 200 districts and nearly 900,000 children that have federally owned land within their boundaries.

Every one of those students is directly tied to Impact Aid because of the loss of tax dollars due to a federal presence.

As we head in to the new year, there FLISA has its largest membership in nearly two decades.  Many of these members attended our Winter meeting in Clearwater/St. Pete January 30-31st.

As FLISA is a member-driven organization all of our members are vital to prepare our message and shaping our organization.  Our organization’s three major committees, Membership, Advocacy and Messaging has been coordinating our efforts for the new congress.

Now it is more important than ever that congress understands that every student in a 7002 impacted school is federally connected through the loss of property tax dollars due to the federal presence in their community.

During our meeting an aggressive strategy was laid out among our subgroups to protect and expand federal dollars for 7002 eligible districts. You can read more on our subgroup efforts under the Meeting Minutes section on our webpage.

The members of FLISA are dedicated to advancing the cause of not just federal property schools but for all students relying upon Impact Aid to fund their academic programming.  We fully appreciate and support the efforts of all of our NAFIS family and look forward to our continued united efforts during the 119^thCongress.

The link below will take you to the Excel Spreadsheet for Estimating Future Payments based on Impact Aid History discussed at the Fall NAFIS Conference, 2024.

For those attending the agenda for FLISA meetings at the NAFIS 2024 Fall Conference have been posted under the events tab. Safe Travels

  NAFIS is featuring sub-groups in their upcoming IMPACT Newsletter. Read a preview of our FLISA statement at the link below. FLISA IMPACT July 2024

FLISA Board is in San Diego preparing for our 2024 Summer meeting on Friday, June 21st.  Planning is underway for our FY 25 appropriations strategy.  Thanks to all of our committee members who got an early start on our efforts.  Stay Classy FLISA team.

FLISA members, on behalf of all of our federal lands impacted schools, made over twenty unique contacts with members of Congress during FRO (Federal Relations Outreach).  Here are just a few photos from our advocacy with Senator Chris Murphy (Conn.), Senator Tina Smith (Minn.) and Representatives Quigley (IL), Tenney (NY), and Joyce (OH).