Congress returned from its August recess and faces a mountain of work. Its first task will be to pass a continuing resolution, a temporary spending measure that will keep the government operating beyond October 1 when the new fiscal year begins. As Congress moves to pass a continuing resolution, the House and Senate will continue to try to make progress on passing and even negotiating the final versions of the fiscal year 2024 funding bills. The central challenge to moving these is the stratospherically different overall and individual program funding levels that the House and the Senate Appropriations Committees have advanced. For example, the House Appropriations Subcommittee’s proposed funding level for the U.S. Department of Education is more than $20 billion below what its Senate counterpart has approved and what Congress passed last year.

Among other cuts, the House version would eliminate Title II-A, as well as cut Title I by 80%. The Senate version maintains funding at last year’s levels for most programs – including Title II-A. Learning Forward is working hard to preserve at least level funding for Title II-A, as the Senate Appropriations Committee has already agreed to do. But we need the help of everyone in the Learning Forward community to weigh-in to their members of Congress on the value proposition of federal spending on educator professional learning, particularly in terms of its impact on learning recovery and student achievement. If we do not succeed, our students, schools, and fellow educators will face tough budgetary decisions next year.

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On July 27, the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee held a full-committee markup to consider several bills, including the fiscal year 2024 Labor-Health and Human Services-Education (LHHS-ED) funding bill. Bypassing a subcommittee markup, the full committee approved the bipartisan spending bill that would provide $79.6 billion in discretionary funding to the U.S. Department of Education in FY24. This topline number is roughly the same as what was appropriated to the Department of Education in FY23. Sen. Deb Fischer, a Republican from Nebraska, and Sen. Bill Hagerty, a Republican from Tennessee, were the sole votes against the bill as it easily advanced out of committee.

Unlike the House LHHS-ED bill, the Senate funds education programs at similar levels as last year, with modest increases for programs like Title I (+$175 million), Impact Aid (+$10 million), IDEA (+$175 million), Title IV-A (+$20 million), CTE State Grants (+$40 million), and Title III (+$7 million). Title II-A and federal funding for charter schools received level funding. Given the stark differences between the Senate and House bills, there will be much to reconcile, especially among programs that were cut by the House LHHS-ED subcommittee altogether. Negotiations between the two committees will have to hold for at least the next month as Congress has entered August recess.

Given the stark differences between the Senate and House bills, there will be much to reconcile, especially among programs that were cut by the House LHHS-ED subcommittee altogether. Click To Tweet

During her opening statement on the LHHS-ED bill, Subcommittee Chair Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat from Wisconsin, stated that while she wished they could have invested more, the bill is a bipartisan compromise to avoid defaulting on our nation’s debt, which is a stark contrast to the House’s LHHS-ED bill. Further, she stated that the House’s approach to this appropriations cycle threatens a government shutdown and sequestration to defense and non-defense programs. Subcommittee Ranking Member Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican from West Virginia, highlighted specific increases for Title I and IDEA but did not mention the House’s bill.

Below is a breakdown of K-12 funding levels: