In a brief markup this morning, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education approved legislation that would fund agencies, including the U.S. Department of Education (ED), for federal fiscal year (FY) 2027 (this is the funding that States and districts would receive for school year 2027-28). Overall, the bill would cut funding for ED by 10 percent below the current year funding, but its fate in the full House and the Senate is still uncertain.
The bill cuts funding for Title I under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) by $1.8 billion, or 62 percent below current levels, eliminating funding for the Adult and Youth Job Training programs. In addition, the legislation eliminates all funding for the Adult Education program (authorized under Title II of WIOA), but Perkins career and technical education funding would increase by $8 million.
Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) would see a cut of nearly $1.9 billion, or 10.3 percent, a significant decrease. The proposal would also zero out Titles II-A and III-A of ESEA, along with Title I-C Migrant Education and Title I-D Neglected and Delinquent funds, aligning with some of the President’s proposals. Funding for ESEA Title IV-B, and Impact Aid would remain the same, while Title IV-A would receive a minor $5 million increase. IDEA would get a small increase, up to $15.54 billion from $15.49 billion. Head Start would see an increase of $10 million, and the Community Services Block Grant would go up by $5 million.
The language provides more State-level administrative funding within the charter school grant program and would offer more flexibility on the terms and conditions of the grants, exempting this year’s funds for certain conditions and leaving those decisions up to the Secretary of Education. Charter school funding would receive the increase of $60 million requested by the President.
Policy riders on K-12 education would prohibit funding from going to schools that allow students to play on a women’s sports team if it doesn’t align with their biological sex, and schools would be required to promptly notify parents about any “desire or effort” made by a student to express a gender identity that doesn’t align with their sex. Such provisions could cause confusion and legal issues, though, as they may conflict with State human rights laws regarding sports participation and would raise questions about how compliance with notification requirements would be measured.
The bill would increase the maximum Pell Grant to $6,385 in discretionary funds (a total maximum award of $7,445 per year when combined with mandatory funds), ignoring concerns about the looming Pell grant shortfall. It also conditions college funding under the Higher Education Act on institutions adopting a “prohibition on antisemitic conduct that creates a hostile environment” and prohibits funds from going to institutions that “failed to take administrative action against any student, staff member, or student group that commits acts of antisemitism while utilizing the facilities, grounds, or resources of such institution.” Institutions that receive funds would also be barred from teaching or training “any idea or concept that condones an individual being discriminated against or receiving adverse or beneficial treatment based on race or sex” or that “the United States or its institutions as being systemically racist or sexist.”
The bill limits the number of non-career (“political”) staff that may be hired by the Department of Education to the same number as in place in December 2022, constraining the appointment of staff outside the career hiring process.
The bill will need to be approved by the full Appropriations Committee to move forward; a vote on that is scheduled for Tuesday. The Senate will most likely temper some of the changes in the bill in any negotiation, and the policy riders are unlikely to be replicated in an omnibus bill if Congress later goes that route.
