CEF Webinar: Education in Jeopardy – Department of Education Programs with Interagency Agreements to be Administered in other Agencies

Date: December 17, 2025
Location: Zoom Webinar

On December 17, 2025, the Committee for Education Funding (CEF) held a Zoom briefing discussing possible impacts of the Administration’s interagency agreements to administer more than $30 billion of Department of Education programs at the Department of Labor and other agencies. These partnerships will do nothing to strengthen support for teaching and learning or to further the Administration’s goal of returning education to the states, but will create duplicate layers of administration and complicate administration for grantees. This briefing described the value of the existing Department of Education programs at a time when Congress is working on fiscal year 2026 appropriations.

Topics and speakers were:

• Rural education – Melissa Sadorf, National Rural Education Association
• Title I – Kay Rigling, Former Department of Education Deputy Assistant General Counsel for Elementary, Secondary, Adult, and Vocational Education
• Historically Black Colleges and Universities – Victor Santos, Thurgood Marshall College Fund
• Career and technical education – Braden Goetz, New America
• Adult Education – Jeff Fantine, National Coalition for Literacy

CEF Webinar: Education Funding Forecast – Chaos with the Expectation of More Cuts

Date: November 18, 2025
Location: Zoom Webinar

On November 18, 2025, the Committee for Education Funding (CEF) held a Zoom briefing addressing the ways that support for education has been cut or is jeopardized this year, including executive orders to dismantle the Department of Education and the loss of half the Department’s staff, withholding of funding to states or programs until they take action that the Administration wants, cancelling funding, moving funds to other programs, student aid cuts in the budget reconciliation bill, and the Administration’s actions to start moving education programs to other agencies. This briefing described the value of these investments at a time when Congress is working on fiscal year 2026 education appropriations. Speakers were CEF members representing the education continuum, including:

• Erik Peterson, Afterschool Alliance
• Myrna Mandlawitz, Council of Administrators of Special Education
• Jayson Schimmenti, National Association of Federally Impacted Schools
• Jacqueline King, AACTE (American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education)
• Stephanie Giesecke, National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities
• Jim Hermes, American Association of Community Colleges
• Kevin Maher, American Library Association

CEF’s 2025 Legislative Conference Webinar: How Congressional & Administration Actions Are Affecting Education

Date: September 16, 2025
Location: Zoom Webinar

On September 16, the Committee for Education Funding (CEF) held its 2025 Legislative Conference: How Congressional and Administration Actions are Affecting Education. Panel 1: Changes to the Federal Role in Education this Year Panelists:

• Jared C. Bass, Senior Vice President for Education, Center for American Progress
• Robert Kim, Executive Director, Education Law Center

Panel 2: Damage of Delaying Federal Education Funding Panelists:

• Bill Chapman, Superintendent of the London Independent School District in Corpus Christi, Texas, and the President-elect of the National Rural Education Association
• Alex DeLonis, Assistant Vice President of Student Financial Services, Saint Louis University
• Horace Turner, Owner of Horace Turner Child Care, Stanislaus, CA, and Bargaining Team Member of United Domestic Workers-Child Care Providers United (UDW-CCPU)

CEF Webinar: “What’s at Stake: The True Costs of Underfunding Education”

Date: April 30, 2025
Location: Zoom Webinar

On April 30, 2025, Committee for Education Funding (CEF) held a Zoom briefing addressing what the Department of Education does and why federal education funding and the Department itself are necessary for a strong future. Panelists will cover Title I and other K-12 funding, special education, career and technical education, higher education and student aid, and Department of Education research at a time when Congress is poised to consider changes in investments in a reconciliation bill and in fiscal year 2026 appropriations. The panelists were:

• Nicole Fuller, National Center for Learning Disabilities
• David Griffith, National Association of Elementary School Principals
• José Miranda, Association of Community College Trustees
• Emily Passias, Advance CTE
• Christy Talbot, American Educational Research Association

CEF Legislative Conference Webinar: Upcoming Issues: Legislation Impacting Education Funding, and Shortages in the Educator Workforce

Date: September 24, 2024
Location: Zoom Webinar

Panel 1: Shortages in the Educator Workforce

• Kimberly Eckert, Senior Advisor for Apprenticeship Development and Head of Instructional Innovation, Western Governors University
• Clifton S. Tanabe, Dean, College of Education, University of Texas at El Paso
• W. Burke Royster, Superintendent, Greenville County Schools, North Carolina

Panel 2: Legislation Affecting Support for Students: WIOA, School Nutrition Programs, and Supports for Basic Needs

• Taylor Maag, Director of Workforce Policy, Jobs for the Future
• Bryce McKibben, Senior Director of Policy & Advocacy, The Hope Center, Temple University, New Jersey
• Tara Thomas, Government Affairs Manager, AASA -The School Superintendents Association 

Past Events – CEF Legislative Conference Webinar: The Outlook for Education as COVID-Relief Ends and Spending Caps Take Effect

Date: September 26, 2023
Location: Zoom Webinar

Panelists: 

• Charlene M. Russell-Tucker, Commissioner for Connecticut State Department of Education
• Kenneth A. Shores, Assistant Professor School of Education and Biden School of Public Policy and Administration, University of Delaware
• Edward Phillips, Vice President of Fiscal Services, Xavier University of Louisiana
• Robin Juliano, Principal, Cornerstone, and former Staff Director for the House Appropriations Committee Democrats and Clerk of its Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee
• Jennifer Castagna, Senior Policy Advisor, EducationCounsel, and former Senate Republican Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee staff
• Julien Lafortune, Research Fellow, Public Policy Institute of California

Click here to view slides used during briefing

Past Events – CEF Zoom Webinar: The National Imperative to Develop STEM Talent: Why the Investment in Education Matters

Date: June 21, 2023
Location: Zoom Webinar

Panelists:

• Dr. Amy Burke, Program Director for Science, Technology, and Innovation Analysis at the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics
• Andre M. Green, Ph.D., Professor and Associate Vice President, Academic Affairs, University of South Alabama
• Mr. Billy Mawhiney, Executive Director, South Dakota Afterschool Network

Click here to view slides used during briefing

Past Events – CEF Zoom Webinar: Shortages in the Education Labor Force

Date: March 2, 2022
Location: Zoom Webinar

Panelists:

• Miren Algorri, Owner, Little Blossoms Child Care in Chula Vista, California
• Dr. Mark Davey, BOCES District Superintendent, Champlain Valley Educational Services, New York
• Dr. Kari Oyen, Assistant Professor, Counseling and Psychology in Education, University of South Dakota
• Megan Schneider, Associate Vice Chancellor for Federal Relations, University of Houston System, Texas

Click here to view slides used during briefing

Past Events – CEF Zoom Research Briefing on Historic Underfunding of Education and Long-Term Needs

Date: October 26, 2021
Location: Zoom Webinar

Panelists:

• Loredana Valtierra, Special Assistant in the Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development at the US Department of Education

• Averi Pakulis, VP for Early Childhood and Public Health Policy, First Focus on Children

• Dr. Michael Rice, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Michigan Department of Education

• David Page, VP of Enrollment Management, Dillard University, New Orleans, LA

Click here to view slides used during briefing

Past Events – CEF Zoom Research Briefing on the Impact of COVID-19 on Education Jobs

Date: March 25, 2021
Location: Zoom Webinar

Panelists:

• Melat Kassa, Economic Policy Institute
• Maryann Salm, American Federal of Teachers
• Andy Brantley, College and University Professional Association for Human Resources

Click here to view slides used during briefing

Past Events – CEF Zoom Research Briefing on State Education Budgets and the Impact of COVID-19

Date: November 12, 2020
Location: Zoom Webinar

Panelists:

• Elizabeth McNichol, Senior Fellow, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
• Michael Griffith, Senior Researcher and Policy Analyst, Learning Policy Institute
• Jennifer Ma, Senior Policy Research Scientist, College Board

Click here to view slides used during briefing

Past Events – CEF Briefing: How Money Matters in Education

Date: September 23, 2020
Location: Zoom Webinar

Panelists:

• Dr. Rucker C. Johnson, Professor of Public Policy, University of California-Berkeley
• David Sciarra, Esq., Executive Director, Education Law Center
  • Background material he provided: Making the Grade 2019: How Fair is School Funding in Your State
• Dr. Tom Harnisch, Vice President for Government Relations, State Higher Education Executive Officers Association
• Dr. Jenna Sablan, Senior Policy Analyst, State Higher Education Executive Officers Association

Past Events – 50th Anniversary – CEF Gala 2019

Date: September 18, 2019 (Wednesday)
Location: Hotel Intercontinental – The Wharf

CEF’s education gala is DC’s premier education event. It is the one night when the education community – advocates, policy-makers, and administrators – come together in support of education funding to honor those who have demonstrated their strong commitment to increasing the federal investment in education for the success of our nation’s students.

The CEF 2018 Gala