On Thursday, Sept. 26, President Biden signed a three-month continuing resolution (CR) that will fund the government at current funding levels until Dec. 20, 2024. The CR avoids a government shutdown and for members of Congress, allows them to head back to their districts to campaign before the November elections. While there were early attempts to use the government funding bill to drive partisan priorities, the final bill was “clean,” meaning it level funded (no change from 2024) all government programs, including Title IIA until after the elections.

The continuing resolution simply delays the conversation and hard decisions around appropriations. Educators should not feel relieved. There is still work to be done as the stark contrast between the House’s version of the 2025 education appropriations bill which would ZERO out Title IIA and the Senate’s version of the bill which would level fund Title IIA. When a negotiation occurs, this could mean that a final appropriations number could come in somewhere between zero and level funding, ultimately meaning a cut for Title IIA. Watch for alerts from Learning Forward shortly after the election. When we call on you to contact your members of Congress, we hope you will heed the call. Full funding for Title IIA hangs in the balance. This is not a time to be complacent. All educators will need to stand up for professional learning and Title IIA.

Questions? Contact Melinda George at melinda.george@learningforward.org.

On Thursday, August 1, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved on a 25-3 vote its Fiscal Year 2025 Labor HHS Education bill. Significantly, Title IIA, which had been eliminated in the House bill, was level-funded in the Senate bill. The committee’s legislative report that accompanies the bill included this statement: “The committee notes that Title II, part A funds can be targeted toward effective preparation and professional development designs that enable teachers and school leaders to expand their knowledge and skills regarding the science of child and adolescent learning and development, including teaching challenging content, teaching diverse learners, and supporting social-emotional and academic development in culturally and linguistically responsive ways.”

Overall, the Senate appropriations bill represents a significant funding upgrade from the House Appropriations Committee’s version. Where the House bill proposed to cut approximately $11.1 billion from the Department of Education’s budget and eliminate 17 programs, the Senate bill would actually increase the department’s funding by more than $900 million and retain all programs. As in previous years, the Senate focused on making significant additions to the major Title programs – Title I (+$280 million) and IDEA (+$300 million) – while level funding or providing only small increases to other K-12 and higher education programs. Title IIA was level funded. A chart showing the proposed funding for major programs is included below.

Congress is now in recess until September. When it returns, it will have very few days left to legislate before recessing for the election. Thus, it is unlikely that either the full House or the full Senate will consider on the floor their respective version of the FY25 Labor HHS Education Appropriations bill. Instead, it is anticipated that Congress will pass a Continuing Resolution, a temporary budget measure, to keep the government operating from October 1, the beginning of the new fiscal year, until December. Only when the results of the November elections are clear will congress begin negotiating final funding levels for federal education programs.

Below is a breakdown of key K-12 program funding levels in the Senate bill: