January 30, 2026

Dear Members of Congress:

We write on behalf of the more than 110 education organizations, institutions, and other members of the Committee for Education Funding (CEF) to support the education funding and protections for education programs in Division B – which provides fiscal year (FY) 2026 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations – of H.R. 7148 as revised. The bill’s education funding is an important downpayment on needed investments in education; Department of Education funding has been essentially frozen since FY 2023 and is now $20 billion below what Congress provided 15 years ago in inflation-adjusted dollars.

Equally important, the legislation includes clear direction for the Department of Education to provide funding on time, to the programs and projects Congress specified, and with sufficient staff at the Department of Education to fulfill all statutory responsibilities. Notably, the bill also refers to Congress’s intentions spelled out in the Joint Explanatory Statement that prohibit unilateral transfers of funding among programs. The statement also clarifies that “no authorities exist for the Department of Education to transfer its fundamental responsibilities under numerous authorizing and appropriations laws, including through procuring services from other Federal agencies, of carrying out those programs, projects, and activities to other Federal agencies.”

Last year the country experienced harmful impacts on education when Congress did not enact a FY 2025 Labor-HHS-Education bill that specified program funding levels. Claiming increased flexibility as a result of the Continuing Resolution that funded the government, the Department of Education cancelled funding, withheld formula grant funding for weeks, transferred funding among programs, and announced its intention to dismantle the Department, starting with eliminating staff and transferring management of programs to other agencies. These actions caused chaos for schools, researchers, universities, and out-of-schooltime educational services that had to pause or eliminate services and programs and curtail their plans due to the uncertainty of federal funding.

We urge Congress to enact full-year funding for education and related programs and to ensure that the Administration follows all laws as it provides and oversees these vital investments that support teaching and learning.

September 30, 2025

Dear Members of Congress:

We write on behalf of the more than 110 education organizations, institutions, and other members of the Committee for Education Funding (CEF) to strongly oppose the deep and harmful proposed cuts to education funding contained in the fiscal year (FY) 2026 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill approved by the House Appropriations Committee on September 9. We urge Congress to work in a bipartisan fashion to enact legislation that ensures education programs can continue to operate successfully throughout the new fiscal year beginning on October 1. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a funding bill that protects education funding and programs while essentially freezing Education funding at the FY 2025 enacted level. While this falls well short of what is needed, this proposal would preserve critical funding for education and represents a pragmatic compromise that secured strong support from both parties.

In contrast, the House Committee FY 2026 bill was only able to garner support along party lines as it would slash funding for Department of Education programs by $12.4 billion (15.6%) below the level enacted by Congress for the current year. CEF opposes this proposal in the strongest possible terms. It cuts support for preschoolers, students in elementary and secondary school, teachers and school leaders, adults who seek education and job training, Americans who rely on federal aid to go to college, and much more. The bill also cuts education-related programs in other agencies and lacks language to prevent the Administration from withholding education funding or taking other unilateral actions that undermine federal support for education—critical protections that were included in the Senate Committee’s FY 2026 bill. The House bill’s proposed cuts to education programs cuts are deeper than those in the Committee’s FY 2025 version of this legislation, which similarly required damaging cuts that were never enacted.

Department of Education funding has declined over the last two years, and the FY 2025 enacted federal support is almost $20 billion below the FY 2011 level in inflation-adjusted dollars. However, the exact level of federal funding and the plans for federal action going forward remain unclear, adding unnecessary uncertainty and disruption for state education programs, institutions of higher education, and other education grantees. This chaos derives from several actions:

1) The Administration has withheld some FY 2025 education funding and failed to provide the required spending plan, leaving Congress and the public without transparency about which programs will receive their intended funding as intended by Congress.

2) Throughout this calendar year, the Administration has continued to lay off significant portions of the federal workforce, including many staff who work on education programs. The Office of Management and Budget suggests firing federal employees in a memo asking federal agencies to include more reductions in force (RIFs) and not just temporary furloughs if there is a lapse of funding. The Office of Personnel Management’s guidance this weekend likewise directs agencies to “consider issuing RIF notices to all employees in programs, projects, or activities” that are not funded or do not fulfill the President’s priorities. Yet these actions would be a voluntary Administration decision that would further harm the Department of Education’s ability to fulfill its statutory obligations and support critical education programs.

CEF urges Congress to reject the damaging funding cuts in the House Appropriations Committee’s FY 2026 Labor-HHS-Education bill. At minimum, we call on lawmakers to work together across party lines to pass full-year appropriations legislation that provides at least the education funding level in the Senate Appropriations Committee’s bipartisan bill and ensures that federal education funding continues in a manner that allows effective planning and provision of vital services. These actions reflect what the public wants: polling shows that the public supports more education funding and does not want to eliminate the Department of Education.

July 25, 2025

Dear Chair Cole, Chair Collins, Vice Chair Murray, and Ranking Member DeLauro:

The 584 undersigned organizations – representing the full range of stakeholders supporting the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and Education and Related Agencies appropriations bill – urge you to continue your leadership in supporting families, communities, and local economies with a fiscal year (FY) 2026 allocation for the Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee that ensures these programs can meet vital needs. Following two years with tight statutory caps on non-defense discretionary funding, FY 2026 marks the first opportunity for Congress to make up for the cuts during that period while making a down payment on addressing urgent needs. We strongly believe the interim allocation for the House Labor-HHS-Education bill is inadequate, and call on the House and Senate Appropriations Committees to provide the Subcommittees with an FY 2026 allocation at a level that at least reverses past cuts to provide for the necessary services and programs this subcommittee oversees.

The programs and services funded by the Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee have a profound impact on health and well-being, child development, educational and skills attainment, labor force participation, and economic productivity. However, these programs historically have been shortchanged in the appropriations process, especially after spending caps were first enacted in 2011 and then again under the caps for 2024 and 2025. At a time when it is unclear if the Administration plans to release the FY 2025 funding already enacted by Congress, and when Congress has just instituted cuts through the budget reconciliation process to health, education, and other areas funded by this bill, increased funding across the Labor-HHS-Education programs is necessary to address long-standing needs.

We also urge Congress to reject any efforts to restructure or reorganize federal agencies either through the appropriations process or unilateral administrative action. This includes codifying cuts to staff and programs unilaterally made by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Instead, Congress must take a consensus-driven approach through proper authorizing committees that includes opportunity for public input. Additionally, Congress enacted laws that created and funded agencies and programs for specific purposes, and we urge Congress to insist that the Administration follow the law, release the funding Congress enacted, and provide the services required by statutes.

The need for these key investments is clear after they have been underfunded by billions of dollars in recent years as funding for essential services provided by the Labor-HHS-Education bill has not kept pace with population growth or inflation. The effects of chronic underfunding have impacted programs that support education, public health, health research, workforce development, and social services. The effects include:

• Eroding the public health and research infrastructure and workforce, limiting our ability to address disease prevention, respond to future health crises, and monitor ongoing health trends for new and emerging threats.
• Hindering efforts to address learning loss and opportunity gaps, to raise student achievement, to address shortages in the education workforce, and to increase high school graduation rates, college affordability, and college completion. The American public supports more education funding, not less.
• Providing childcare to only one in nine eligible children under age 6, with childcare providers paid so little that one in four early childhood educators takes a second job to make ends meet
• Leaving far too many low-income children without access to high quality preschool and other early learning opportunities.
• Compounding on recent withholding of funding for lifesaving medical research, further distancing America from its longstanding global leadership in finding cures.
• Risking our ability to prepare for, monitor, and respond to public health threats that transcend international borders.
• Cutting efforts to adequately respond to ongoing opioid and fentanyl epidemics and infectious disease outbreaks, such as measles and tuberculosis. Reducing funding for mental health services, including services for children and for the homeless.
• Limiting workers’ access to skills development and education opportunities necessary to access in-demand careers for which employers are currently hiring—a key contributing factor for why the nation’s labor force participation rate remains at historic lows at a time when there are nearly two available jobs for every unemployed person. A declining labor force participation rate hinders America’s economic growth and reduces U.S. competitiveness. Businesses are currently struggling to hire 7.4 million workers, which a sustained investment in workforce development is poised to address.
• Preventing almost one million people from accessing the critical workforce and job training services that Congress overwhelmingly authorized in 2014. The U.S. invests less than every other industrialized country in active labor market policy, except for Mexico and Chile, and would need to invest $80 billion annually just to reach the median of our international peers.
• Ignoring the needs of individuals who find themselves without a high school credential and who need a pathway back to education, employment, and full participation in their communities.
• Providing inadequate resources to address mental health and reverse recent reductions of substance use overdoses in communities throughout the country.
• Inadequate funding for heating and cooling assistance, despite increased costs for families. The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), the federal program to help with residential energy costs, only has enough funding to serve 1 in 6 eligible households, with funding down from $6.1 billion in FY 23 to $4.1 billion for FY 25. Cooling assistance is particularly inadequate, despite cooling costs expected to rise to their highest levels in 12 years this summer, amid life-threatening heat waves.
• While Congress started to reverse Maternal and Child Health Block Grant funding losses, funding remained flat at about 10 percent below the levels in FY 2010 when taking inflation into account.
• Failing to keep pace with growing child welfare needs, especially as communities grapple with the destructive impact of substance use disorders on families. Child Welfare Services funding, for example, has been flat-funded over the past few years, leaving it more than 27 percent below the FY 2010 level, adjusted for inflation.

We urge you to commit to improving the lives of Americans by boosting the allocation for the Labor-HHS-Education bill for FY 2026 to provide vital services for the American public. Any additional cuts for FY 2026 will further undermine the future strength, economic vitality, and security of our nation.

July 2, 2025

Dear Members of Congress:

We write on behalf of the more than 110 education organizations and institutions that are members of the Committee for Education Funding (CEF) to urge Congress to immediately reassert its constitutional authority over federal spending. The Administration has unlawfully withheld nearly $7 billion in education funding that Congress legally authorized and appropriated – a clear violation of current law that threatens educational services for millions of students nationwide.

Late on June 30, the Department of Education (ED) informed states that they will not receive the education funding for six state formula grant programs on July 1, as the law requires. This communication came after grantees for many of these same programs previously received notification regarding estimated 2025 allocations from ED under the terms of the fiscal year (FY) 2025 full-year continuing resolution that Congress passed and President Trump signed into law.

The withheld investments in education total $6.9 billion and include:

o $376 million for migrant education state grants;
o $890 million for English language acquisition grants;
o $1.33 billion for 21st century community learning centers;
o $1.38 billion for Title IV-A student support and academic achievement grants;
o $2.190 billion for Title II-A supporting effective instruction state grants; and
o $715 million for adult education and family literacy state grants.

The immediate and long-term consequences are devastating. For instance, ED informed state agencies on May 29 about FY 2025 allocations to expect by July 1 for adult education, but now most adult education programs are halted as state agencies redo their budgets, impacting 41,391 teachers and 1.26 million adult learners. The abrupt withholding of afterschool funding means nearly 1.4 million students may lose afterschool services when school starts, leaving families without critical support. Similar impacts will be felt for the other programs, all of which Congress funded for specific purposes to benefit teaching and learning. Without the immediate release of enacted funding, the short-term consequences of layoffs and cut services threaten to become permanent penalization of students and families.

There is no good-faith legal basis for withholding these funds. In a three-sentence unsigned email communication, ED has told states that “decisions have not yet

been made concerning submissions and awards for this upcoming academic year” for these six grant programs. This is false; there is no decision for ED to make in this context. Contrary to this declaration, appropriations law requires the Administration to release this funding immediately. The FY 2025 appropriations law provides funding “for projects or activities (including the costs of direct loans and loan guarantees) that are not otherwise specifically provided for, and for which appropriations, funds, or other authority were made available” in the FY 2024 appropriations laws. Those underlying FY 2024 laws included Congress’s explanatory statements with a table showing how much funding Congress was providing for each ED program (see printed pages 946-971).

For three of these impacted programs, Congress specified exact amounts in statute: $1.33 billion for afterschool program (part B of Title IV of the ESEA); $1.38 billion for student support and academic achievement grants (subpart 1 of part A of title IV), and $890 million for English language (part A of Title III). A plain reading of the law demonstrates that there is no ambiguity whatsoever regarding the requirements of current appropriations legislation.

The Department of Education’s unilateral action affects every state, with the funding withheld accounting for at least 10.2 percent of the federal elementary and secondary education funding in each state, and up to 20.8 percent of federal K-12 education funding in one state (see Learning Policy Institute estimated impact per state).

The Department of Education is directing all inquiries regarding this action to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), claiming OMB is holding back these lawfully enacted investments in education. This deflection does not absolve ED from its legal obligations, nor does it excuse this action that is actively harming grantees and the students they serve. Accordingly, CEF is urging Congress to insist that OMB direct ED to follow the law and to immediately release the education funding that is needed to provide educational services for millions of students.

Prepared for the Senate Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, supporting education funding

June 12, 2025

On behalf of the Committee for Education Funding (CEF), we urge you to increase appropriations for education-related programs under the purview
of the Department of Education (ED) and other federal agencies in the fiscal year 2026 appropriations bill for Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies. Specifically, we call on Congress to restore funding to at least FY 2023 levels of investment. Funding for ED has been cut in FY 2024 and in FY 2025 to a level that, in inflation-adjusted dollars, is $20 billion less than what was provided for education 15 years ago. The President’s FY 2026 budget would cut support for education even deeper, proposing to drastically disinvest in students and schools as shown in the chart on the following page. The Administration’s harmful cuts would affect preschoolers, students in elementary and secondary school, teachers and
school leaders, adults who seek education and job training, Americans who rely on federal aid to go to college, and much more. We urge you to reject the Administration’s proposed cuts to education funding, which do not provide sufficient resources to support critical state and local educational priorities.

The erosion of the federal education investment is being exacerbated by the Administration’s unilateral actions to withhold or cancel funding legally authorized and enacted by Congress. There also remains enormous uncertainty regarding whether and when the Administration will release funding Congress has enacted for FY 2025. Federal support for higher education and for low-income students and families would also be deeply cut if Congress enacts the House-passed reconciliation bill, which limits eligibility for Pell grants, eliminates some student loan programs, makes it more costly for many borrowers to repay their loans, raises costs for some institutions of higher education, and cuts Medicaid, which helps support school services for low-income students and is the fourth largest source of funding support for schools nationwide.

We urge Congress to reject the Administration’s proposed funding cuts and instead make a down payment towards meeting educational needs that span the entire continuum, and to
ensure that the Department of Education and other agencies remain in place to provide vital oversight and technical assistance and faithfully implement the funding Congress enacts. The
American public supports more education funding, not less. While federal investments in education fuel learning and are essential to our nation’s continued success, they account for
only about 2 percent of the federal budget. Investments in education are among the best the country can make, reaping rewards immediately in terms of student achievement and
knowledge, and over the long term in greater economic output, community engagement, and a well-informed populace prepared for a global economic environment. Indeed, higher education
is America’s eighth largest export, contributing $50 billion annually to the nation’s economy.

• Public schools are key to local economies; in many communities, schools are the largest
employer.
• The more than 7.4 million unfilled jobs in America could move overseas if the US does not
graduate students with 21st century skills and knowledge needed for success in today’s
rapidly transforming global economy.
• Wages and employment rates increase with more years of education, and higher wages
lead to more tax revenue that boosts the economy.
• A strong military depends on investments in science, technology, engineering, math, and
other disciplines.
• Higher investments in public schools lead to less adult crime, also saving future public
costs.

Education is one of the few policy areas where investment directly translates into economic mobility and long-term growth. Cutting education is not fiscal responsibility – it is a
generational mistake,

May 9, 2025

Dear Members of Congress:

On behalf of the Committee for Education Funding (CEF) and its more than 110 education member organizations and institutions, we write to strongly oppose President Trump’s fiscal year (FY) 2026 budget cuts to education. The proposed budget slashes funding for Department of Education programs by $12 billion (15 percent) below what Congress provided for FY 2025 while also cutting support for education-related programs in other agencies. The proposal’s harmful cuts would affect preschoolers, students in elementary and secondary school, teachers and school leaders, adults who seek education and job training, Americans who rely on federal aid to go to college, and much more.

Department of Education funding has already declined over the last two years, leaving enacted federal support almost $20 billion below the FY 2011 level in inflation-adjusted dollars. Many education programs have, as a result of this disinvestment, failed to keep pace with rising needs and costs. This erosion of the federal education investment has been further worsened by the Administration’s unilateral actions to withhold or cancel funding this year and the existing uncertainty regarding the Administration’s future plans to release the funding Congress has already enacted for FY 2025. In addition, the Congressional budget resolution includes reconciliation instructions that could result in cutting mandatory spending for education by hundreds of billions of dollars over the next ten years.

Federal investments in education fuel learning across all stages in life and are essential to our nation’s continued success, yet they account for only about 2 percent of the federal budget. In contrast to the Administration’s recent actions, the public supports more education funding and does not want to eliminate the Department of Education.

The Administration’s proposed cuts to federal support for education will make it harder for our students to achieve the American dream in the long term, will hurt local communities, and will leave our national economy less prepared to thrive in the future. CEF urges you to reject the President’s harmful education cuts and to at least maintain the federal investment in education that maximizes opportunities for students and their families, schools, and our nation.

April 1, 2025

Dear Members of Congress:

On behalf of the Committee for Education Funding (CEF) and its more than 110 education member organizations and institutions, we write to strongly urge Congress to protect the future of the nation’s students by rejecting cuts to federal education investments and to programs that support students as part of the forthcoming budget reconciliation process.

The respective fiscal year (FY) 2025 budget resolutions that the House and Senate have passed include reconciliation instructions for committees that would undermine educational opportunity and related support for students. Many of the options that have been proposed and are reportedly under consideration would dramatically increase the cost of accessing and completing postsecondary education. Proposals for several committees jeopardize physical, mental, and behavioral health services that support all students, including the large proposed cuts to Medicaid, which is the fourth largest federal source of K-12 education funding. Many of the proposed options would create new and significant financial burdens on already struggling state and local education budgets, further weakening support for education.

Federal educational investments fuel learning across all stages in life and are essential to our nation’s continued success. The forthcoming reconciliation package cannot achieve its goals of spurring economic growth without preserving critical investments in education – investments that recognize that our nation’s greatest strength is our ability to help every American reach their fullest potential.

The existing trajectory for federal education funding is already deeply concerning. Since FY 2023, Congress has consistently reduced appropriations for Department of Education programs. In fact, federal support for education programs is now almost $20 billion below the FY 2011 level in inflation-adjusted dollars, with many programs failing to keep pace with rising needs and costs. This erosion of the federal education investment has been further worsened recently by unilateral actions that have already withheld or cancelled significant amounts of FY 2024 funding.

Any additional cuts to federal support for education – by broadly restricting eligibility for federal student loans or making those loans more expensive; reducing tax credits, exclusions, or deductibility of certain student loan costs; establishing tax incentives that undermine K-12 public education; or cutting federal support for K-12 school health and nutrition programs – will make it harder for our students to achieve the American dream. Cuts to mandatory spending support for students hurt local communities and will leave our national economy less prepared to thrive in the future.

March 25, 2025

Dear Secretary McMahon:

We write on behalf of the Committee for Education Funding (CEF) and its more than 110 education member organizations and institutions in opposition to the President’s executive order calling for the closure of the U.S. Department of Education (ED or the Department), and other recent Administration actions that have drastically cut ED staffing in half. These efforts jeopardize ED’s ability to carry out its legally mandated responsibilities, including the administration of federal funding that Congress has lawfully enacted – funding that is vital to teaching and learning, to job creation, and to the nation’s future.

States and local communities have always been in control of education in America. ED serves as a critical partner by providing necessary tools, research, and most importantly funding and resources to support educational opportunities that might otherwise be out of reach. The Department helps states implement evidence-based practices, ensures civil rights protections for all students, and strategically directs federal investments to address gaps in educational opportunity – particularly for our most vulnerable students and underserved communities, such as rural areas and those facing significant economic challenges. Rather than controlling education, ED’s role strengthens state and local control by giving communities the tools and resources they need to effectively serve all students.

Federal law explicitly defines the Department’s role in supporting states, districts, schools, and institutions to ensure all students have access to a quality education. These laws have historically and explicitly prohibited ED from controlling curricula, instruction, and personnel decisions. Moreover, Congress has legally enacted and prescribed funding levels for each federal education program overseen by ED. Adherence to these statutes is non-negotiable and remains fundamental to maintaining our collective commitment to the rule of law. The statutes governing ED include not only the bipartisan legislation creating the Department (Public Law 96-88), but also other statutes that establish and fund programs addressing critical needs throughout the entire educational continuum. In total, these laws require ED to distribute, with fidelity, more than $79 billion in annual appropriations and more than $85 billion in new student loans to support students, schools, research, and other critical education services.

The Order also notes lagging American student achievement as measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress—a key function of ED that the Administration’s recent actions have directly put in jeopardy. Supporting states and communities in understanding where learning gaps may exist and measuring student achievement nationally are core responsibilities that can only be achieved through the federal Department of Education.

In announcing the Executive Order, the President also stated that some of the Department’s largest appropriated programs – Pell grants, Title I-Education for the Disadvantaged, and special education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act – would continue but be shifted to other agencies. This proposal contradicts existing federal law, which require those programs to be administered by ED. Withholding or cancelling education funding likewise contradicts federal appropriations law – legislation that Congress just extended through this fiscal year that included specific funding for education accounts and these programs. This law reiterates Congress’ clear intent: agencies must adhere to the funding directives outlined in the legislation and may not reorganize, consolidate, or eliminate programs without Congressional approval. Any such changes must be proposed in the President’s budget and considered by the relevant Congressional committees.

The Administration’s stated intent to eliminate the Department and actions that dramatically cut ED’s staff raise fundamental questions about how the federal government will uphold its legal and moral commitments to students, educators, and families. Specifically, we ask:

• How will the Department fulfill its legal obligations to protect students’ civil rights, administer Congressionally mandated federal education funds, and carry out critical research, when nearly half of its staff have been eliminated and its very existence is under threat?
• How will the Administration ensure that federally funded education programs remain accountable to the public and aligned with Congressional intent if they are fragmented across multiple agencies without the oversight and expertise that ED provides?
• If the Department is eliminated or hollowed out, how will the Administration ensure continuity of services to students, schools, and families — especially those who rely most heavily on federal programs — without violating the rights and protections guaranteed under federal education and civil rights laws?

Many federal education programs are already substantially underfunded, hampering the ability of states and local communities to meet the urgent needs of learners or the funding levels Congress has previously set as policy goals and established by federal law. The public supports more education funding and does not want to eliminate the Department of Education. Congress just enacted resources to support needed services for students, including efforts that make it possible for learners of all ages to access high-quality training or postsecondary education they need to support themselves, their families, and contribute to their local communities and our shared economy. These investments are lawfully guaranteed and must continue.

CEF, the nation’s oldest and largest education coalition, is a non-partisan and non-profit organization reflecting the entire education continuum from cradle to career. Our members are students and parents, teachers and school leaders, specialized instructional support personnel, school board members, universities and school districts, and associations all united in the goal of ensuring strong federal investment in education now and in the future. We call on the Administration to immediately halt efforts to dismantle or diminish the Department and instead work with Congress to fulfill its statutory responsibilities to fund and support education across America.

February 19, 2025

Dear Members of Congress:

We write on behalf of the more than 110 education organizations and institutions that are members of the Committee for Education Funding (CEF) to strongly oppose the Administration’s actions in withholding and canceling Congressionally enacted investments in education, and to urge Congress to insist that the Administration implement Congress’s laws requiring that these investments be made with fidelity. The Administration’s unilateral actions in recent weeks to abruptly halt funding for ongoing grants and contracts, as well as efforts to withhold funding from schools and universities unless they follow certain policy paths not currently required by existing law are already having profound and negative impacts on the delivery of education services and on students’ lives.  

Bipartisan legislation creating the Department of Education was explicit about its purposes and its limitations. Public Law 96-88 states among its purposes “to strengthen the Federal commitment to ensuring access to equal educational opportunity for every individual.” It limited the Department’s authority, stating that “No provision of a program administered by the Secretary or by any other officer of the Department shall be construed to authorize the Secretary or any such officer to exercise any direction, supervision, or control over the curriculum, program of instruction, administration, or personnel of any educational institution, school, or school system, over any accrediting agency or association, or over the selection or content of library resources, textbooks, or other instructional materials by any educational institution or school system, except to the extent authorized by law.”  

Most recently, the bipartisan law enacting current appropriations for the Department of Education provides specific totals for different accounts and programs, requiring these resources to be allocated as directed in the explanatory statement accompanying the legislation making explicit Congress’ intent. It states that “Each department and agency funded in this Act shall follow the directives set forth in this Act and the accompanying explanatory statement and shall not reallocate resources or reorganize activities except as provided herein… Any action to eliminate or consolidate programs, projects, and activities should be pursued through a proposal in the President’s Budget so it can be considered by the Committees.”

These laws, passed by bipartisan majorities of Congress, are clearly at odds with the Administration’s recent actions to cancel ongoing competitive grants that increase the number of highly trained educators and to end Congressionally mandated work of the Institute of Education Sciences in evaluating student performance and identifying educational strategies that most effectively promote learning and student achievement. While it is the prerogative of any new Administration to set new priorities for education, there are legal and constitutional means to do so. Many of these recent efforts have been broadly ambiguous and legally dubious, creating unnecessary confusion and concern within all parts of the educational continuum. These actions are also unfairly penalizing education entities retroactively and have not provided schools and institutions with any meaningful opportunity to address or align with these rapidly shifting priorities.

For instance, CEF members have reported schools preemptively withholding funding for services for homeless children because they fear not being reimbursed for their ongoing costs, while others have pulled books from school libraries and removed history curriculum in case they conflict with recent executive actions. The country must work to improve student achievement, address ongoing shortages in the education workforce, and prepare the next generation for success. Now is not the time to disinvest in education, but rather to redouble our commitment to these and other critical downpayments for our nation’s future.

Polling shows that the public supports more education funding and does not want to eliminate the Department of Education. Congress enacted resources to support needed services for students, including efforts that make it possible for learners of all ages to access high-quality training or postsecondary education they need to support themselves, their families, and contribute to their local communities and our shared economy. These investments are lawfully guaranteed and must continue, even as Congress has yet to enact education funding for the current fiscal year and could be considering deep cuts to higher education funding this year. CEF urges Congress to insist that the Administration follow enacted laws and the intent of Congress and immediately cease withholding and canceling legally enacted investments in education. Further we call on Congress to maintain these vital investments going forward through the Congressional appropriations process outlined in our nation’s founding documents.

CEF, the nation’s oldest and largest education coalition, is a non-partisan and non-profit organization reflecting the entire education continuum from cradle to career. Our members are students and parents, teachers and school leaders, specialized instructional support personnel, school board members, universities and school districts, and associations working to ensure that education is adequately funded now and in the future.

July 8, 2024

Dear Representative:

We write on behalf of the more than 110 education organizations and institutions that are members of the Committee for Education Funding (CEF) to strongly oppose the harmful education funding cuts in the fiscal year (FY) 2025 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill approved by the Appropriations Subcommittee on June 27, and to urge you to vote against the bill unless the funding is restored. To adequately invest in education, in families, and communities, we also urge Congress to increase non-defense discretionary funding for FY 2025 by at least 1 percent above the FY 2024 level, as was the intention when Congress approved the Fiscal Responsibility Act last year.

This FY 2025 Labor-HHS-Education bill cuts Department of Education funding by more than $11 billion (14 percent), to a level below what Congress provided 14 years ago for FY 2011. The bill also cuts education-related programs in other agencies, eliminating entire programs that provide vital services to children, youth, and adults. These devastating funding cuts will impact teaching and learning along the education continuum, hitting early education, elementary and secondary education, higher education, job training, and out-of-school educational services.

The bill’s damaging funding cuts will hit education services immediately by rescinding more than $1 billion that Congress enacted just months ago for the academic year starting next month. Eliminating this advance funding will immediately require laying off teachers and staff and reducing planned investments in other student supports.

The bill also deeply cuts the amount of new funding, hitting all parts of the Education budget. For example, it cuts the Department’s largest K-12 education program by 25 percent ($4.7 billion), eliminating vital support for 25 million students in nearly 90 percent of the nation’s school districts. It cuts in half support for two of the largest student aid programs, including one where low-income students work part time and colleges help pay their wages. The bill eliminates support for almost all teacher training programs even though the nation faces ongoing shortages in the educator workforce. The bill reduces funding for many other programs that are truly investments in students, families, and communities.

The nation saw what happened to student achievement and access to high quality education after the Budget Control Act of 2011 imposed arbitrary and low spending caps for almost a decade; funding for Department of Education programs was cut and then held mostly flat, and it was cut again for FY 2024 under the new cap on non-defense funding. Education funding is now $16.6 billion below the 2011 level in inflation-adjusted terms. This bill will further jeopardize access to necessary education services for another generation of students.

CEF urges House members to reject this bill and insist that the FY 2025 Labor-HHS-Education funding bill increase or at least maintain federal education investments. Recent polling shows that the majority of the public opposes cutting funding for education and child care and supports increasing this vital support. This bill’s deep funding cuts are a shift in the wrong direction, abandoning students and harming the economy.

CEF, the nation’s oldest and largest education coalition, is a non-partisan and non-profit organization reflecting the education continuum. Our members are parents and students, teachers and school leaders, specialized instructional support personnel, school board members, universities and school districts, and associations working to ensure that education is adequately funded.

Prepared for the Senate Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, supporting education funding

May 23, 2024

On behalf of the Committee for Education Funding (CEF), we urge you to increase appropriations for the Department of Education and other education-related programs in the fiscal year 2025 appropriations bill for Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies to at least the level in the President’s budget. The President’s 2025 budget provides a $3.3 billion (4.2 percent) increase in discretionary funding for Department of Education programs and even more modest percentage increases for education and workforce programs in other agencies. This funding, along with proposals for new multi-year mandatory investments in free preschool, child care, academic competitiveness, and college affordability, would increase education spending to about 2.3 percent of the federal budget.

Historically, the U.S. has spent an average of only about 2 cents of every federal dollar on education although polling shows a majority of Americans support greater investments in education and oppose cuts to education funding. Education funding failed to keep pace with inflation under years of tight discretionary caps imposed by the 2011 Budget Control Act, resulting in a large funding gap as needs and costs grew. Even the President’s requested discretionary funding increases would leave 2025 appropriations for the Department of Education at a level that is $13 billion below the 2011 level in inflation-adjusted dollars, as shown in the chart on the next page.

Recent data highlight the need for greater investments to support teaching and learning. The “Nation’s Report Card” found that in 2022 and 2023, both 9-year-olds and 13-year-olds had lower reading and math scores than they did in 2020. Almost half of public schools felt their school was understaffed at the beginning of the current school year, and 79 percent of those with vacancies reported difficulty hiring qualified teachers, according to a National Center for Education Statistics School Pulse Panel survey. Undergraduate enrollment for first-year students under age 20 remains 5 percent below 2019 levels. The impact of the pandemic on education will remain even though the extra federal investments are ending.

We urge Congress to address long under-funded education priorities that span the education continuum from early education, elementary and secondary education, adult and career technical education, post-secondary education, workforce development, and out-of-school educational services. Investments in education are among the best the country can make. They reap rewards immediately in terms of student achievement and knowledge, and over the long term in greater economic output, community engagement, and a well-informed populace prepared for a global economic environment.

The existing statutory cap for non-defense discretionary funding is inadequate to address education needs for 2025. Congress cut education funding in 2024, but to keep America strong and able to compete in the global economy, CEF is asking Congress to use all funding options to increase investments in education by at least the amount in the President’s 2025 request. That modest increase represents a necessary down payment towards meeting national needs.

CEF, the nation’s oldest and largest education coalition, is a non-partisan and non-profit organization reflecting the education continuum. Our members are parents and students, teachers and school leaders, specialized instructional support personnel, school board members, universities and school districts, and associations with the common goal of ensuring that education is adequately funded.

May 6, 2024

Dear Chair Murray, Chair Cole, Vice Chair Collins, and Ranking Member DeLauro:

The 698 undersigned organizations—representing the full range of stakeholders supporting the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and Education and Related Agencies appropriations bill—thank you for your leadership in supporting families and communities. We urge you to build on the previous fiscal year (FY) investment of $226.8 billion by increasing the FY 2025 allocation for the Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee to a level that ensures robust and sustained investments so that these programs can meet vital needs. Given the funding cuts sustained in this bill for FY 2024, we call on you to ensure that the tight non-defense discretionary (NDD) cap for FY 2025 does not result in additional cuts to funding for the necessary services and programs this subcommittee oversees, and that funding is found to respond to increased urgent needs. We also urge you to seek funding outside the cap where needed to meet needs responsibly.

The programs and services funded by the Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee have a profound impact on health and well being, child development, educational and skills attainment, and productivity. Yet these programs have been shortchanged in the appropriations process since spending caps were first enacted in 2011 and yet again under the cap for FY 2024. We strongly recommend an allocation that addresses the gaps created from years of underfunding these essential programs. The need for these key investments has only grown over time, leaving important services and activities underfunded by billions of dollars as program funding for vital services funded under Labor-HHS-Education has not kept pace with population growth or inflation. Any additional cuts to FY 2025 NDD funding and to this bill specifically will further undermine the future strength, economic vitality, and security of our nation. We need sustained annual increases across the Labor-HHS-Education programs to address long-standing needs, and these increases cannot come at the expense of other programs within the bill or other NDD programs. The programs in the Labor-HHS-Education bill strengthen the nation by improving Americans’ lives and meeting basic needs for a broad range of constituencies. The effects of chronic underfunding have impacted programs that support education, public health, health research, workforce development, and social services. The effects include:

• Eroding the public health and research infrastructure and workforce, limiting our ability to
  address disease prevention, respond to future health crises, and monitor ongoing health trends
  for new and emerging threats.
• Hindering efforts to address learning loss and opportunity gaps worsened by the pandemic, to
  raise student achievement, to address shortages in the education workforce, and to increase
  high school graduation rates, college affordability, and college completion.
• Leaving far too many low-income children without access to high quality preschool and other
  early learning opportunities.
• Providing childcare to only one in nine eligible children under age 6, with childcare providers
  paid so little that one in four early childhood educators take second jobs to make ends meet.
• Limiting workers’ access to skills development and education opportunities necessary to access
  in-demand careers for which employers are currently hiring—a key contributing factor for why
  the nation’s labor force participation rate remains low at a time when there are nearly two
  available jobs for every unemployed person.
• Preventing almost one million people from accessing the critical workforce and job training
  services that Congress overwhelmingly authorized in 2014. The U.S. invests less than every other
  industrialized country in active labor market policy, except for Mexico and Chile, and would
  need to invest $80 billion annually just to reach the median of our international peers.
• Ignoring the needs of individuals who find themselves without a high school credential and who
  need a pathway back to education, employment, and full participation in their communities.
• Providing inadequate resources to mitigate the worsening substance use disorder crisis in
  communities throughout the country.
• While Congress started to reverse long-term Maternal and Child Health Block Grant funding
  losses in FY 2023, in FY 2024 funding was cut, bringing funding to more than 10 percent below
  the levels in FY 2010 when taking inflation into account.
• Failing to keep pace with growing child welfare needs, especially as communities grapple with
  the destructive impact of substance use disorders on families. Child Welfare Services funding,
  for example, was flat-funded again in FY 2024, leaving it more than 27 percent below the FY
  2010 level, adjusted for inflation.
• The average cost of home heating has increased 24.5% since the start of the pandemic, and the
  Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), the federal program to help with
  residential energy costs, only has enough funding to serve 1 in 6 eligible households. Congress
  provided $2 billion in supplemental funding in FY23 to help families pay for the rising cost of
  energy, helping 7.2 million households access energy assistance. This winter, costs have not
  come down, but the supplemental funding has not been renewed and base funding for FY 2024
  was increased by only $25 million.

We urge you to commit to improving the lives of Americans by boosting the allocation for the LaborHHS-Education bill for FY 2025 to provide needed services for the American public while ensuring continued support for NDD programs. If you have questions about this letter, please contact:

• Sarah Abernathy, Committee for Education Funding (abernathy@cef.org);
• Erin Will Morton, Coalition for Health Funding (emorton@dc-crd.com);
• Steve Voytek, Campaign to Invest in America’s Workforce (Steve.Voytek@flpadvisors.com); or
• Meredith Dodson, Coalition on Human Needs (mdodson@chn.org).

May 3, 2024

On behalf of the Committee for Education Funding (CEF), we urge you to increase appropriations for the Department of Education and other education-related programs in the fiscal year 2025 appropriations bill for Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies to at least the level in the President’s budget. The President’s 2025 budget provides a $3.3 billion (4.2 percent) increase in discretionary funding for Department of Education programs and even more modest percentage increases for education and workforce programs in other agencies. This funding, along with proposals for new multi-year mandatory investments in free preschool, child care, academic competitiveness, and college affordability, would increase education spending to 2.3 percent of the federal budget.

Historically, the U.S. has spent an average of only about 2 cents of every federal dollar on education although polling shows a majority of Americans support greater investments in education and oppose cuts to education funding. Education funding failed to keep pace with inflation under years of tight discretionary caps imposed by the 2011 Budget Control Act, resulting in a large funding gap as needs and costs grew. Even the President’s requested discretionary funding increases would leave 2025 appropriations for the Department of Education at a level that is $13 billion below the 2011 level in inflation-adjusted dollars, as shown in the chart on the next page.

Recent data highlight the need for greater investments to support teaching and learning. The “Nation’s Report Card” found that in 2022 and 2023, both 9-year-olds and 13-year-olds had lower reading and math scores than they did in 2020. Almost half of public schools felt their school was understaffed at the beginning of the current school year, and 79 percent of those with vacancies reported difficulty hiring qualified teachers, according to a National Center for Education Statistics School Pulse Panel survey. Undergraduate enrollment for first-year students under age 20 remains 5 percent below 2019 levels. The impact of the pandemic on education will remain even though the extra federal investments are ending.

We urge Congress to address long under-funded education priorities that span the education continuum from early education, elementary and secondary education, adult and career technical education, post-secondary education, workforce development, and out-of-school educational services. Investments in education are among the best the country can make. They reap rewards immediately in terms of student achievement and knowledge, and over the long term in greater economic output, community engagement, and a well-informed populace prepared for a global economic environment.

Despite the statutory cap that essentially freezes non-defense discretionary funding at the 2024 level, the President’s 2025 budget increases the federal investment in education. Congress cut education funding in 2024, but to keep America strong and able to compete in the global economy, CEF is asking Congress to use all funding options to increase investments in education by at least the amount in the President’s 2025 request. That modest increase represents a necessary down payment towards to meeting national needs.

CEF, the nation’s oldest and largest education coalition, is a non-partisan and non-profit organization reflecting the education continuum. Our members are parents and students, teachers and school leaders, specialized instructional support personnel, school board members, universities and school districts, and associations with the common goal of ensuring that education is adequately funded.

Emily Crawford                                         Sarah Abernathy

President                                                     Executive Director

         November 6, 2023

Dear Representative:

We write on behalf of the more than 110 education organizations and institutions that are members of the Committee for Education Funding (CEF) to strongly oppose the destructive education funding cuts in H.R. 5894, the fiscal year (FY) 2024 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill pending in the House Rules Committee, and urge you to vote against the bill unless the funding is restored. The bill cuts Department of Education funding to far below its authors’ stated goal of returning to the FY 2022 level. In fact, the bill’s $22 billion (28 percent) cut provides less support for Department of Education programs than in FY 2006. The bill also cuts funding for education-related programs in other agencies, eliminating entire programs that provide vital services to children and adults. These devastating funding cuts will impact teaching and learning along the education continuum, hitting early education, elementary and secondary education, higher education, job training, and out-of-school educational services.

The unwise funding cuts will cost jobs now and in the future. For example, the bill cuts the Department’s largest K-12 education program by 80 percent ($14.7 billion), which could eliminate 224,000 teacher jobs, hitting the economy in every congressional district and eliminating vital support for 25 million students in almost all of the nation’s school districts. At a time when parents are struggling to find affordable child care so they can work, the bill cuts Head Start services for 51,000 children, impacting parents in every state. The bill eliminates all Department of Labor funding for youth and adults seeking training to get a good-paying job, hurting employment prospects for hundreds of thousands of potential workers. It imperils a college education for millions of high school graduates who won’t be able to get Federal Work Study or Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, which the bill eliminates. The bill makes other harmful spending cuts that will jeopardize the achievement and prospects of today’s students while also harming the country’s future growth.

CEF urges House members to reject this bill and insist that the FY 2024 Labor-HHS-Education funding bill use all possible new funding sources and mechanisms to increase or at least maintain federal education investments that are needed as students address learning losses, career development training, and child care needs that grew during the pandemic. Polling shows that the majority of the public thinks that the government currently spends too little on education; this bill’s drastic funding cuts are a shift in the wrong direction.

CEF, the nation’s oldest and largest education coalition, is a non-partisan and non-profit organization reflecting the education continuum. Our members are parents and students, teachers and school leaders, specialized instructional support personnel, school board members, universities and school districts, and associations working to ensure that education is adequately funded.

Sincerely,

Jenny Smulson                                                  Sarah Abernathy

President                                                          Executive Director

September 28, 2023

Dear Members of Congress:

We write on behalf of the more than 100 education organizations and institutions that are members of the Committee for Education Funding (CEF) to urge Congress to pass legislation keeping the government funded at current levels to provide time to enact fiscal year (FY) 2024 appropriations bills that invest in education and meet the nation’s needs. CEF strongly opposes the destructive education funding cuts in the FY 2024 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill approved by the House Appropriations Subcommittee on July 14, and urges the House Appropriations Committee not to consider that bill unless the funding is restored.

Nothing is gained by allowing government funding to lapse, and in fact a government shutdown not only harms the economy as a whole, but it also hurts individuals and wastes federal funds as agencies must implement new procedures and, most likely, eventually provide backpay to federal workers who were sent home. Enacting a continuing resolution at current funding levels will provide Congress time to negotiate appropriations bills to fund necessary services for the next year.

We recognize that the Fiscal Responsibility Act imposes tight discretionary spending constraints that preclude investing in education at the level the President had requested before that bipartisan law was enacted. Those constraints led the Senate Appropriations Committee to produce a bipartisan FY 2024 Labor-HHS-Education bill that maintains education funding at about the current level. The bill is not ideal because it cuts some education funding that we urge be restored, but it shows a bipartisan compromise on education funding is possible.

In contrast, the House Appropriations Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee’s FY 2024 bill cuts Department of Education funding by more than $22 billion, to below the 2006 level. The bill also cuts education-related programs in other agencies, eliminating entire programs that provide vital services to children and adults. These are devastating funding cuts that will impact teaching and learning along the education continuum, hitting early education, elementary and secondary education, higher education, job training, and out-of-school educational services.

Education funding was cut for years after the Budget Control Act of 2011 imposed spending caps for almost a decade. Education funding still has not returned to the 2011 level in inflation-adjusted terms, and recent polling confirms that the majority of the public thinks that the government currently spends too little on education. CEF urges Congress to act to keep the government funded at current levels so it can use all possible funding sources and mechanisms to increase or at least maintain federal education investments for FY 2024.

CEF, the nation’s oldest and largest education coalition, is a non-partisan and non-profit organization reflecting the education continuum. Our members are parents and students, teachers and school leaders, specialized instructional support personnel, school board members, universities and school districts, associations, and others working to ensure that education is adequately funded.

Sincerely,

Jenny Smulson                                    Sarah Abernathy

President                                             Executive Director

July 24, 2023 

Dear Representative:

We write on behalf of the more than 100 education organizations and institutions that are members of the Committee for Education Funding (CEF) to strongly oppose the destructive education funding cuts in the fiscal year (FY) 2024 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill approved by the Appropriations Subcommittee on July 14, and to urge you to vote against the bill unless the funding is restored. The bill cuts Department of Education funding by more than $22 billion (28 percent), providing less support than in 2006; in fact, it cuts Education funding to 36 percent below the 2006 level in inflation-adjusted dollars. The bill also cuts education-related programs in other agencies, eliminating entire programs that provide vital services to children and adults. These are devastating funding cuts that will impact teaching and learning along the education continuum, hitting early education, elementary and secondary education, higher education, job training, and out-of-school educational services.

The bill’s harmful funding cuts will hit education services immediately by rescinding $10.4 billion in already-enacted funding that school districts have built into their budgets for the academic year starting next month. This FY 2024 advance funding was intended for the coming school year, so eliminating it will immediately require laying off teachers and staff and reducing planned investments in other student supports. In addition to rescinding 14 percent of the Department’s entire discretionary budget, the bill slashes the amount of new FY 2024 education funding it provides. The cuts hit virtually all parts of the Education budget. For example, the combination of cuts reduces the Department’s largest K-12 education program by 80 percent (14.7 billion), eliminating vital support for 25 million students in nearly 90 percent of the nation’s school districts. The misguided and unnecessary cuts will eliminate support for all teacher training programs, reduce mental health services, dramatically cut student grant aid, and reduce funding for many other programs that constitute ongoing investments in students, families, and communities. These investments in education are needed now more than ever as students address learning losses, career development training, and child care needs that grew during the pandemic.

We recognize that the Fiscal Responsibility Act imposes tight discretionary spending constraints, but this bill cuts funding far more than is required by the Act’s funding levels and assumptions. We have seen what happened to student achievement and access to high quality education after the Budget Control Act of 2011 imposed spending caps for almost a decade; Education funding was cut and then held mostly

flat, and currently has not returned to the 2011 level in inflation-adjusted terms. This bill will further jeopardize access to necessary education services for another generation of students.

CEF urges House members to reject this bill and insist that the FY 2024 Labor-HHS-Education funding bill use all possible new funding sources and mechanisms to increase or at least maintain federal education investments. Recent polling shows that the majority of the public thinks that the government currently spends too little on education; this bill’s drastic funding cuts are a shift in the wrong direction, abandoning students and harming the economy.

CEF, the nation’s oldest and largest education coalition, is a non-partisan and non-profit organization reflecting the education continuum. Our members are parents and students, teachers and school leaders, specialized instructional support personnel, school board members, universities and school districts, and associations working to ensure that education is adequately funded.

Sincerely,

Jenny Smulson                                      Sarah Abernathy

President                                              Executive Director

July 6, 2023

Dear Appropriations Committee leaders:

We write on behalf of the more than 100 education organizations and institutions that are members of the Committee for Education Funding (CEF) to emphasize the importance of investments in education, and to express our concern that both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees have adopted allocations that dramatically cut funding for the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill for fiscal year (FY) 2024. We recognize that the Fiscal Responsibility Act imposes tight discretionary spending constraints, and encourage you to use all possible funding sources and mechanisms to increase or at least maintain federal education investments.

The Budget Control Act of 2011 similarly cut and capped appropriations, resulting in years of education spending cuts that hurt students, families, and the economy. As a result of that Act’s caps on non-defense discretionary funding, Department of Education funding remained below the FY 2011 level for the next six years, and FY 2023 funding is still $13 billion below the FY 2011 level in inflation-adjusted dollars. However, the need for investments in education is only growing, and recent polling shows that the majority of the public thinks that the government spends too little on education. It is vital that FY 2024 education funding be sufficient to address needs along the education continuum, covering early education through elementary and secondary education, higher education, adult education, workforce development, and out of school educational services.

CEF, the nation’s oldest and largest education coalition, is a non-partisan and non-profit organization reflecting the education continuum. Our members are parents and students, teachers and school leaders, specialized instructional support personnel, school board members, universities and school districts, and associations working to ensure that education is adequately funded.

Sincerely,

Jenny Smulson                          Sarah Abernathy

President                                   Executive Director

Dear Senators:

On behalf of the more than 110 education organizations and institutions that are members of the Committee for Education Funding (CEF), we write to express our concern that the fiscal year (2020) Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill released on September 18 does not use any of the funding under the higher cap on non-defense discretionary to increase the overall investment in education.  We urge you to revise the Subcommittee’s allocation – its 302(b) funding level – to provide a substantial increase rather than its current virtual freeze at the FY 2019 level, and to then revise the bill to make long-needed new investments in education programs.   

The Committee’s party-line vote to provide a mere 0.1 percent increase for the Labor-HHS-Education bill that contains 30 percent of all non-defense discretionary spending does not reflect the bipartisan vote earlier this year to enact an overall $27 billion increase in non-defense appropriations.  Year after year, the Labor-HHS-Education bill has failed to get its proportional share of funding increases and education programs have seen their funding cut and frozen for years, even though these programs are key to student achievement, job success, and future economic growth. In fact, current FY 2019 discretionary resources for the Department of Education are below the FY 2018 level and are more than $7 billion below the FY 2011 level in inflation-adjusted terms.  The proposed FY 2020 bill cuts net discretionary Education funding even further, with funding for most education programs frozen at the FY 2019 level.  

Years of funding cuts and freezes have left many education programs insufficiently funded to fulfill their intended goals and meet student needs.  These impacts are felt in classrooms, colleges, and education programs throughout the nation. There are education needs across the entire education continuum, including early childhood education, elementary and secondary education, higher education, career technical and adult education, and out-of-school educational providers such as libraries and museums. 

CEF, the nation’s oldest and largest education coalition, is a non-partisan and non-profit organization reflecting the entire education continuum whose members are parents and students, teachers and school leaders, counselors, school board members, universities and school districts, associations and others with the common goal of ensuring that education is adequately funded.  CEF urges you to revise the allocations to provide the Labor-HHS-Education bill at least its 30-percent proportional share of the $27 billion increase that Congress has already approved for non-defense programs, and to increase vital investments in education. 

Sincerely,

Stephanie Giesecke
President

Sheryl Cohen
Executive Director

Dear Senator:

On behalf of the more than 110 education organizations and institutions that are members of the Committee for Education Funding (CEF), we strongly oppose the Senate Appropriations Committee decision to freeze funding for the fiscal year (FY) 2020 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill at the FY 2019 level.  The Committee’s party-line vote to provide a mere 0.1 percent increase for the Labor-HHS-Education bill that contains one third of all non-defense discretionary spending does not reflect the bipartisan vote earlier this year to enact an overall $27 billion increase in non-defense appropriations.  Year after year, the Labor-HHS-Education bill has failed to get its proportional share of funding increases even though it supports education and other programs that are key to future economic growth, family security, and health. We urge the Senate to revise the 302(b) allocations for the 12 government funding bills to allow for necessary investments in vital education programs.

The need for investment in education programs grows each year but tight caps on non-defense discretionary funding led the federal government to under invest in education in recent years.  In fact, current FY 2019 discretionary resources for the Department of Education are below the FY 2018 level and are more than $7 billion below the FY 2011 level in inflation-adjusted terms.  The many years of funding cuts and freezes have left many education programs insufficiently funded to fulfill their intended goals and meet student needs.  These impacts are felt in classrooms, colleges, and education programs throughout the nation. There are education needs across the entire education continuum, including early childhood education, elementary and secondary education, higher education, career technical and adult education, and out-of-school educational providers such as libraries and museums.

A decision to freeze funding for the Labor-HHS-Education funding bill means that any increased investments in education come at the cost of offsetting cuts to the bill’s other important programs.  Such a decision is shortsighted in terms of what is necessary to develop a strong future workforce and a well-educated populace ready to compete in a fast-paced global environment.  Education funding accounts for less than 2 percent of the federal budget – an already low investment that should be increased, not frozen or cut.

CEF, the nation’s oldest and largest education coalition, is a non-partisan and non-profit organization reflecting the entire education continuum whose members are parents and students, teachers and school leaders, counselors, school board members, universities and school districts, associations and others with the common goal of ensuring that education is adequately funded.  CEF urges you to revise the allocations to provide the Labor-HHS-Education bill at least its one-third proportional share of the $27 billion increase that Congress has already approved for non-defense programs for FY 2020.

Sincerely,

Stephanie Giesecke
President

Sheryl Cohen
Executive Director

Dear Members of Congress:

On behalf of the more than 100 education organizations and institutions that are members of the Committee for Education Funding (CEF), we urge you to support H.R. 3877, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019, which will prevent devastating cuts to education by raising the caps on non-defense discretionary funding for fiscal years (FY) 2020 and 2021. Enactment of this bipartisan deal will prevent a fiscal and economic crisis over the debt ceiling and will allow Congress to proceed toward enacting FY 2020 appropriations bills in a timely manner.

CEF supported the even higher non-defense spending level the House approved earlier this year for FY 2020 that led to record education funding in the House-passed Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill, H.R. 2740.  While the non-defense funding in the compromise bipartisan deal is lower than the House-passed levels, it will make it possible for Congress to increase investments in education and other core responsibilities of government where the need is growing, but funding has been stagnant or cut in recent years. Education investments account for less than two percent of the federal budget, and current funding for Department of Education programs is still $7 billion below the 2011 level in inflation-adjusted terms.

Absent action to raise the caps, non-defense discretionary funding will be cut by $54 billion for next year. The possible impact of that cut was illustrated in the President’s FY 2020 budget, which cut Department of Education funding by $10.7 billion (15.1 percent), imposing drastic cuts to critical programs along the education continuum that would hurt America’s students, educators, and our economy.

CEF, the nation’s oldest and largest education coalition, is a non-partisan and non-profit organization reflecting the entire education continuum, from early childhood education through elementary and secondary education to higher education, career technical and adult education, and out-of-school education needs and enhancements. Our members are teachers and school leaders, parents and students, counselors, school board members, universities and school districts, associations and others with the common goal of ensuring that education is adequately funded.

We urge you to support H.R. 3877 to raise the caps for FY 2020 and FY 2021, ending the austerity-level discretionary sequester and allowing for needed investments in education and other important programs.

Sincerely,

Stephanie Giesecke
President

Sheryl Cohen
Executive Director

Dear Members of Congress:

On behalf of the 110 organizations and institutions that are members of the Committee for Education Funding (CEF), we urge you to vote for H.R. 2740, the omnibus appropriations bill that increases education funding for fiscal year (FY) 2020. The increases will support vital improvements to teaching and learning along the education continuum, including early childhood education, elementary and secondary education, career technical and adult education, higher education, and other educational services outside of classrooms such as libraries and museums.

The federal government has underinvested in education in recent years, constrained by tight caps on non-defense discretionary funding. Those budget limitations led to cuts in funding for the Department of Education, where funding remained below the FY 2011 level for six years and is still $7 billion below the FY 2011 level in inflation-adjusted terms. Even though Congress has voted to raise the caps since their onset, the reality of federal investment in education remains one of chronic underinvestment that has left many programs insufficiently funded to fulfill their intended goals and meet student standards.  Given past funding limitations, even the increases proposed for some of these programs for FY 2020 might not meet demand or support the needs of a 21st century economy.

CEF continues to request Congress to move quickly to enact an increase in the non-defense discretionary cap for FY 2020 that is at least the level set in H.R. 2021 and that was assumed in the appropriations levels approved by the House this Spring.

CEF, the nation’s oldest and largest education coalition, is a non-partisan organization reflecting the entire education continuum.  Our members are teachers and school leaders, parents and students, counselors, school board members, universities and school districts, associations and others who share the common goal of ensuring that education is adequately funded.

Sincerely,

Stephanie Giesecke
President

Sheryl Cohen
Executive Director

The Honorable Richard Shelby, Chairman
The Honorable Patrick Leahy, Vice Chairman
Committee on Appropriations
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Nita Lowey, Chairwoman
The Honorable Kay Granger, Ranking Member
Committee on Appropriations
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairs and Ranking Member:

On behalf of the 110 organizations and institutions that are members of the Committee for Education Funding (CEF), we write to oppose the additional deep cut to federal education funding in the President’s fiscal year 2020 budget amendment submitted to Congress on May 13.  The President’s budget had already cut discretionary resources for the Department of Education by $8.8 billion below the 2019 level, and the budget amendment would deepen the cut to $10.7 billion – a cut of 15 percent.  More than one third of the total cut is a rescission of $3.9 billion that Congress has already provided for Pell Grants, the largest source of federal grant aid to help low-income students obtain a post-secondary education.  CEF urges Congress to increase, not cut, federal investments in education – investments that are among the best the nation can make, leading to greater economic growth, a strong national defense, and an internationally competitive workforce.

Costs for the Pell Grant program can vary widely from year to year, and as recently as 2011 the program posted a shortfall of nearly $2 billion. While Congress increased appropriations and dedicated offsets from mandatory spending cuts to secure the program in 2012 and 2013, it also made multiple changes to reduce the size of the program by limiting eligibility and student benefits – changes that resulted in tens of thousands of students losing access to Pell Grants. Over the last three years, $1.9 billion that had been provided for Pell Grants has been rescinded.  Enacting the Administration’s request for an additional rescission of $3.9 billion would jeopardize the Pell Grant program if economic conditions change or if the benefit is increased under continued tight discretionary spending caps.

CEF, the nation’s oldest and largest education coalition, is a non-partisan organization reflecting the entire education continuum, including early childhood education through elementary and secondary education to higher education, career technical and adult education, and out-of-school education needs and enhancements. Our members are teachers and school leaders, parents and students, counselors, school board members, universities and school districts, associations and others with the common goal of ensuring that education is adequately funded.

Sincerely,

Stephanie Giesecke
President

Sheryl Cohen
Executive Director

The Honorable Nita M. Lowey, Chairwoman
The Honorable Kay Granger, Ranking Member
House Appropriations Committee
H-305 The Capitol
Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Rosa DeLauro, Chairwoman
The Honorable Tom Cole, Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies
House Appropriations Committee
2358-B Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC  20515

Dear Chairwoman DeLauro and Ranking Member Cole:

On behalf of the 110 organizations and institutions that are members of the Committee for Education Funding (CEF), we write to thank you for the increased investments in education provided in the fiscal year (FY) 2020 appropriations bill that the Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee reported out on April 30^th.  We appreciate that the House approved a meaningful increase in appropriations for the coming year, and that the Appropriations Committee increased the allocation for this bill by $11.7 billion. That total represents one third of the $34 billion increase in non-defense discretionary funding Chairwoman Lowey announced she will be providing for FY 2020, reflecting that the important programs in this bill account for one third of all federal non-defense discretionary funding.

The federal government has underinvested in education in recent years, constrained by tight caps on non-defense discretionary funding. Those budget limitations led to cuts in funding for the Department of Education, where funding remained below the FY 2011 level for six years and is still $7 billion below the FY 2011 level in inflation-adjusted terms.  The resulting funding cuts and freezes continue to affect vital programs along the education continuum, including early childhood education, elementary and secondary education, career technical and adult education, higher education, and other educational services outside of classrooms, such as libraries and museums.  Congress has voted to raise the caps since their onset. Even with these votes, however, the reality of federal investment in education remains one of chronic underinvestment that has left many programs insufficiently funded to fulfill their intended goals and meet student standards.  Given past funding limitations, even the increases proposed for some of these programs in FY 2020 might not meet demand or support the needs of a 21st century economy.

CEF urges the full Appropriations Committee to maintain or increase the education funding provided in the FY 2020 bill. CEF continues to request Congress to move quickly to enact an increase in the non-defense discretionary cap for FY 2020 that is at least the level set in H.R. 2021 and that was assumed in the appropriations levels approved by the House last month.

CEF, the nation’s oldest and largest education coalition, is a non-partisan organization reflecting the entire education continuum.  Our members are teachers and school leaders, parents and students, counselors, school board members, universities and school districts, associations and others who share the common goal of ensuring that education is adequately funded.

Sincerely,

Stephanie Giesecke
President

Sheryl Cohen
Executive Director

Dear Members of Congress:

On behalf of the more than 100 education organizations and institutions that are members of the Committee for Education Funding (CEF), we write to support H.R. 2021, the Investing for the People Act of 2019. The bill will prevent devastating cuts to education and other vital government programs by raising the caps on non-defense discretionary (NDD) funding for fiscal years 2020 and 2021, allowing for critically important annual increases for NDD programs.

Importantly, enactment of H.R. 2021 will allow Congress to begin the appropriations process for FY 2020 with a realistic top line. The bill’s higher cap on NDD funding and any additional cap adjustments will allow Congress to increase investments in education and other areas where the need is only growing but funding has been stagnant or cut in recent years. Education investments currently account for less than two percent of the federal budget, and funding for Department of Education programs is currently $7 billion below the 2011 level in inflation-adjusted terms.

Absent action to raise the existing limit, NDD funding will be cut by $54 billion in FY 2020. The possible impact of that cut was illustrated in the President’s budget request, which cut the Department of Education by $8.8 billion (12.5 percent), imposing drastic cuts to vital services along the education continuum that would hurt America’s students and educators as well as our economy.

CEF, the nation’s oldest and largest education coalition, is a non-partisan organization reflecting the entire education continuum, from early childhood education through elementary and secondary education to higher education, career technical and adult education, and out-of-school education needs and enhancements. Our members are teachers and school leaders, parents and students, counselors, school board members, universities and school districts, associations and others with the common goal of ensuring that education is adequately funded.

We urge you to support legislation such as H.R. 2021 that will raise the non-defense discretionary caps for FY 2020 and FY 2021 to allow for vital investments, including increased support for education programs.

Sincerely,

Stephanie Giesecke
President

Sheryl Cohen
Executive Director

The Honorable Richard Shelby
Chairman
Committee on Appropriations
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Patrick Leahy
Vice Chairman
Committee on Appropriations
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Nita Lowey
Chair
Committee on Appropriations
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Kay Granger
Ranking Member
Committee On Appropriations
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

The 550 undersigned organizations—representing the full range of stakeholders supporting the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education and Related Agencies appropriations bill (Labor-HHS)—urge you to significantly boost the fiscal year (FY) 2020 allocation for that Subcommittee to address vital and long-neglected needs. The programs and services funded by the Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee have a profound impact on health and well-being, child development, educational and skills attainment, and productivity, yet they have been overlooked in the appropriations process over the last decade. Even in years when non-defense discretionary funding increased, the Subcommittee’s allocation remained flat or received only a small share of the increase. Most recently, for FY 2019 the bill received just a 0.6 percent increase in funding even though overall non-defense discretionary funding increased by 3 percent, shortchanging important services and activities by billions of dollars.

To provide workable allocations for the FY 2020 appropriations bills, Congress will need to raise the cap on non-defense discretionary spending substantially above the FY 2019 level, both to support ongoing services across the government and to accommodate the increased cost of the decennial census and the VA Choice program. We urge you to take that opportunity to address the long-standing needs of the Labor-HHS-Education bill, whose programs strengthen the nation by improving Americans’ lives and meeting basic needs for a broad range of constituencies. The bill has lost almost $16 billion in purchasing power over the last decade; it would take an allocation of $194 billion just to return to the FY 2010 level in inflation-adjusted dollars.

• The effects of chronic underfunding for the Labor-HHS-Education bill has impacted programs that support education, public health, health research, job training, and social services. The effects include:
• Serving 1.5 million fewer low-income people through the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) in 2018 than in 2010, despite growing need, because funding was reduced from $5.1 billion to $3.7 billion over this period.
• Eroding the public health infrastructure and workforce, limiting our ability to respond to public health crises and monitor health trends for new and emerging threats.
• Hindering efforts to raise overall student achievement, close troubling achievement gaps, and increase high school graduation rates, college affordability, and college completion.
• Leaving far too many low-income children without access to high quality preschool and other early learning opportunities.
• Hindering efforts of our local employers to fill the approximately six million open jobs in the U.S. because too many workers lack the necessary postsecondary education and credentials to fill these positions.
• Preventing almost one million citizens from accessing the critical workforce and job training services that Congress overwhelmingly authorized in 2014.
• Ignoring the needs of individuals who find themselves without a high school credential and who need a pathway back to education, employment and active citizenship.

Without a substantial increase in the Subcommittee’s allocation, it will be virtually impossible to meaningfully expand investments in important initiatives—such as public health emergency preparedness and infectious disease surveillance, implementing the bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act, continuing to improve college affordability and completion, or achieving the intended innovation of the bipartisan Workforce Innovation and Opportunities Act (WIOA)—without deep cuts in other equally important initiatives.

We urge you to commit to improving the lives of Americans by significantly raising the cap on non-defense discretionary spending above the FY 2019 level and then boosting the allocation for the Labor-HHS-Education bill for FY 2020 to support needed services to the American public.

If you have questions about this letter, please contact:

• Sheryl Cohen, Committee for Education Funding (cohen@cef.org)
• Emily Holubowich, Coalition for Health Funding (eholubowich@dc-crd.com)
• Katie Spiker, Campaign to Invest in America’s Workforce (KatieS@nationalskillscoalition.org); or
• Debbie Weinstein, Coalition on Human Needs (dweinstein@chn.org)

Dear Senate Budget Committee members:

On behalf of the more than 100 education organizations and institutions that are members of the Committee for Education Funding (CEF), we write to oppose the fiscal year (FY) 2020 budget resolution proposed by Chairman Enzi because of the drastic cuts to education it would require.

The budget resolution slashes non-defense discretionary funding down to the sequester-level caps for FY 2020 and FY 2021, and then freezes funding at that very low level for the next three years.  Those cuts are far deeper than those Congress rejected when it voted to raise caps every year after they went into effect in FY 2013.  In addition to cutting discretionary spending, the budget resolution eliminates $72 billion over five years in mandatory funding for education and social services programs, with half of that likely to be the funding that Congress has already enacted in law for Pell Grants and most of the rest likely to be cuts to student loans.

The tight budget constraints of recent years have left many education needs unfilled, and the deep cuts necessary to comply with this budget resolution would hurt America’s students and teachers as well as our economy as a whole. While the Chairman’s budget resolution does not include details on which education programs would be cut, it matches the total for non-defense discretionary funding in the President’s budget, which cut the Department of Education by $8.8 billion (12.5 percent) for FY 2020, imposing drastic cuts to vital services along the education continuum.

Federal education funding has stagnated over recent years despite the increasing demand as the nation’s student body grows. The National Center for Education Statistics reports increasing enrollment in all elementary and secondary schools as well as in degree-granting post-secondary education. In recent years Congress has reauthorized both the nation’s main elementary and secondary education law and the career education law, making a clear statement about the need to provide support in these areas, as well as others. While state and local governments provide the bulk of elementary and secondary education funding, federal investments play a key role along the education continuum. Unfortunately, net federal funding for the Department of Education declined for FY 2019 despite the bipartisan agreement to increase non-defense discretionary spending. In total, spending on education accounts for just 2 percent of the federal budget even though schools want to do more to meet the needs of all their students, costs make college unattainable to many, and graduates are now burdened by over $1.3 trillion of student loan debt.

CEF, the nation’s oldest and largest education coalition, is a non-partisan organization reflecting the entire education continuum, from early childhood education through elementary and secondary education to higher education, career and adult education, and out-of-school education needs and enhancements. Our members are teachers and school leaders, parents and students, counselors, school board members, universities and school districts, associations and others with the common goal of ensuring that education is adequately funded.

We urge you to reject the Chairman’s budget resolution and instead support legislation to raise the non-defense discretionary caps for FY 2020 and FY 2021 to allow for continued investments above the 2019 levels, including an increased investment in education programs.

Sincerely,

Stephanie Giesecke
President

Sheryl Cohen
Executive Director