When Congress returned to work in January, all members knew that fiscal year 2024 funding remained unresolved and that it faced another countdown to the federal government running out of money. Back in November, Congress passed a temporary spending bill to keep the federal government operating but that set two different deadlines for two different groups of federal agency funding bills – January 19 and February 2, with all Department of Education programs falling into the February 2 bucket. Now, one week before the first deadline, Congress has still not passed any of the 12 annual funding bills, and must either pass yet another short-term spending resolution to keep the lights on or shut down significant parts of the federal government come January 19.
The good news is that congressional leaders have made some progress. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, and Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, announced last weekend that they had reached an agreement on overall fiscal year 2024 spending levels for defense and non-defense discretionary programs, the latter of which includes all federal education programs such as Title II-A. Even better is that the deal hewed to last year’s original agreement between Schumer and former Speaker Kevin McCarthy that called for a slight increase for defense programs and essentially flat funding for non-defense discretionary programs.
The bad news is that the House Freedom Caucus (HFC) has now weighed-in against the deal. This powerful group of hard right House Republicans holds the balance of power in a House where Republicans have just a narrow 2-vote majority. Over the past few days, several HFC members came out against the new Johnson-Schumer deal arguing that it spends too much federal money. Other HFC members demanded that Congress approve a tough border security measure, which cannot pass the Senate, as a quid pro quo for their votes on the new spending deal. To underscore their anger at the deal and their power, HFC shut down the House floor on Wednesday, effectively barring further progress on moving fiscal year 2024 funding bills.
Congress’ next moves are uncertain. There will be an effort to buy time by passing another short-term spending resolution but it is unclear if Speaker Johnson has enough votes in his Caucus to pass even that. Additionally, if he relies on Democratic votes – as did his predecessor – to muscle such a measure through the House, he could face the end of his speakership.
While this debate continues, Learning Forward continues to press for at least level funding of Title II-A. We are continuing to show Congress how valuable professional learning is to student achievement and to stem attrition in educator ranks.
We can use your help. Please take a few minutes to share your story about what Title II-A means to you. We will make sure that Capitol Hill hears what you have to say.
