Analysis of H.R. 6561: Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Act
1. Interpretation and Analysis of H.R. 6561: Teachers and First Responders Back to
Work Act of 2012
Harry Tsou, Jr.
As the sponsor, Congressman Joseph Crowley introduced the bill H.R. 6561
into the U.S. House of Representatives in September of 2012. The bill contains
separate provisions to prevent the layoffs of educators and first responders through
the use of thirty billion dollars in grants. The grants were intended for use in the
fiscal years of 2012 and 2013.
The first provision addresses the measures that the Secretary of Education
can take to prevent the layoffs of educators. Up to 1 percent of the funds are
appropriated to the Bureau of Indian Education and up to two million dollars are
appropriated for the administration, oversight, and evaluation of the bill. Of the
remaining funds, 60 percent of remaining funds appropriated based on the
proportion of the state’s population of 5-17 year olds and with the other 40 percent
appropriated based on the state’s total population. In order to receive the funds, the
state chief executive must draft an application with the stipulation that the state
must expend an equal or increased amount for early learning, primary, and
secondary education. Following the receipt of the grant, the state is permitted to
spend up to ten percent of funds on early childhood education and two percent of
funds on administration. The remainder of funds is distributed with sixty percent of
the funds being awarded based on the size of the local education agency and the
other forty percent awarded based on the amount of funds received under the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. The funds are only permitted for
the purpose of retaining, recalling, or hiring of personnel imperative to early
childhood, primary, and secondary education. States are implicitly prohibited from
utilizing the funds to supplement a “rainy day” fund or repayment of debts.
The second provision gives the power of the Secretary of Homeland Security
and Attorney General to make grants for up to five billion dollars that prevent the
layoffs of law enforcement officers and firefighters. Under the Firefighter Grant
2. Program, The Secretary of Homeland Security has the authority to make grants for
the purpose of retaining and hiring firefighters pursuant to the Federal Fire
Prevention and Control Act of 1974. In addition, The Attorney General has the
power to make grants for the purpose of retaining in hiring law enforcement officers
pursuant to the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968.
Title I of H.R. 6561, which pertains to the appropriation of funds to prevent
the layoffs of educators, is effective legislation that provides benefits at the early
childhood, primary, and secondary levels of education. Early childhood education
has consistently shown itself to have high return on investment on each dollar that
is invested. Children that participated in preschool programs showed increased
rates of basic achievement at age 14, increased high school graduation rates, and
decreased rate of arrests and incarceration.1 Studies like this show a proven rate of
success of early childhood programs and the necessity of federal and state funding
for them. Investments at these early ages allow participants to enjoy greater success
at higher levels of education, as well as enjoy a higher quality of life.
The provisions of H.R. 6561 also provide significant funding for the retention
and hiring of educators at the primary and secondary level. As a result of billions of
dollars of extra appropriations, many school districts are able to afford to retain
educators, as well as hire new educators. In turn, class sizes decrease and new
specialty and advanced courses can be offered. When Tennessee commissioned a
study to assess the effects of reducing class sizes, it was shown that students in
smaller classes performed significantly better on standardized exams than the
students in the larger classes. 2 Another finding was African-American students
benefited from the decreased class sizes even more than their Caucasian
1 "Preschool in the U.S.: The High/Scope Perry Study." Contemporary Education
Dialogue 2.2 (2005): 267-72.
2 Schanzenbach, Diane W. "Does Class Size Matter?" National Education Policy
Center (2014): Great Lakes Center, Feb. 2014.
3. counterparts. 3 With the presence of an achievement gap between Caucasian and
African-American students, smaller class sizes may be the key to the academic
performance of African-American students, studies like these prove the importance
of increasing funding for hiring educators in order to decrease class sizes. An
increase of funding for hiring educators also serves a benefit to the population of
students at large, giving everyone opportunities to be better prepared to enter the
workforce or pursue undergraduate study.
Title II of H.R. 6561, which pertains to the hiring and retention of law
enforcement officers and firefighters, is effective in stopping the loss of key public
safety personnel and increases safety for the populations they serve. One of the
most critical measures of fire department performance is the response rate. The
faster a fire department can respond to an emergency, the greater chance of survival
for those experiencing a medical emergency, requiring rescue, and minimizing the
risk of property loss. With a decrease in funding, fire departments are forced to
close firehouses and systematically reduce personnel levels. Personnel reductions
lead to fire departments relying on mutual aid agreements, which lead to increased
response times.4 With the extra billions of dollars of funding provided in H.R. 6561,
fire departments can afford to retain and hire sufficient personnel, as well as keep
more firehouses open. With this increase in manpower, fire departments are better
prepared to respond to emergencies, especially mass casualty incidents such as
train derailments and terrorist attacks. Law enforcement agency performance is
judged using the performance metric of crime rates. More efficient law enforcement
agencies are able to prevent crime, especially violent and property crimes. Often
times, the presence of law enforcement officers is a deterrent to multiple types of
crime. Larger law enforcement agencies are also able to investigate crimes more
3 Schanzenbach, Diane W. "Does Class Size Matter?" National Education Policy
Center (2014): Great Lakes Center, Feb. 2014.
4 "Fire Stations Cut Services As City Budgets Shrink." NPR, 29 Sept. 2010. Web.
<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130018464>.
4. efficiently, apprehending suspects in a shorter amount of time. When the Los
Angeles Police Department hired 725 police officers at the cost of $110 million, a
study estimated that their crime prevention efforts had saved the city government
and its citizens almost $415 million.5 With the extra funding provided by H.R. 6561,
the strategies implemented in Los Angeles can be implemented nationwide. The
increased funding can bring relief to cash strapped cities such as Detroit and
Oakland, as well as provide greater capabilities to smaller municipal law
enforcement agencies in rural areas.
In conclusion, Congressman Joseph Crowley has introduced a bill that is able
to have wide-ranging benefits in many American municipalities. This legislation is
able to draw important connections between education and public safety. With an
increase in funding for educators, more students are able to master basic skills and
are more prepared to take civil service examinations for police and fire service.
These better-educated students are also less likely to commit crime and reduce the
strain on police departments. Although this bill is currently in the committee stage,
it provides a precedent for future bills.
5 Ridgeway, Greg, and Paul Heaton. "Save Money - Hire Police." Los Angeles Times, 22
Nov. 2011. <http://articles.latimes.com/2011/nov/22/opinion/la-oe-ridgewayheaton-
police-20111122>.
