The American Association of English Teachers (AAET) will meet next week in New York City to consider changes to its student body, the organization announced Friday.
The AAAE is one of the largest English-language education organizations in the country, and has been lobbying Congress for more funding for its programs since the 2012-13 school year, when it slashed funding for the national B.A.E. program by nearly 30 percent.
The AAET’s budget was reduced by more than a quarter from $8 million in the 2012 fiscal year to $4.5 million in 2014-15, as it fought off lawsuits that were filed by groups like the American Civil Liberties Union.
While the organization has remained mum on the topic of the 2018-19 academic year, its president and chief executive officer, Susan Wollaston, told ABC News that the AAET would be discussing “any proposals for significant funding reductions.”
Wollaston added that she was optimistic about the group’s ability to find a solution to the current funding crunch.
“We are a very, very, committed organization that cares deeply about our students, and we will be looking at any solutions that we have to get students back to where they were and where they want to be,” she said.
In an earlier interview with ABC News, Wollaston said that “a major concern is that there’s no clarity as to when and where students are going to graduate, and this could create a lot of problems.”
She added that the group was hopeful that Congress would act soon, but noted that it had “been in constant communication with the White House and the president about how we can best improve the B.O.E., and he has indicated that he is open to any kind of proposal.”
The AAET is one group that has been trying to find ways to improve the academic performance of American students.
In 2014, Congress authorized $6.8 million for the B,C, and F.A., but the organization, which advocates for bilingual instruction, has not received that money, and is asking for more than $2 billion for 2019-20.
The organization has been pressing Congress for years to allocate more funding, but its efforts have been met with resistance from Republicans who argue that the federal government is already too busy to devote the resources to teaching English.
Last week, the AAE announced a plan to double the number of teachers in the 2018 classes of about 100,000 students, while also increasing the number and number of students in the 2020 classes by about 50,000.
The AAE’s new proposal would see the organization add about 80,000 new teachers to the 2019-2020 class, and add another 60,000 to the 2020-21 class.
According to the organization’s 2018-2019 financial report, the agency expects the program to be funded for a total of $1.5 billion in 2019-2019, with another $1 billion coming from federal grants.
That money would come from the Higher Education Act, which is expected to be signed into law by President Donald Trump this week.
