Congress Tries Gentle Parenting: Steady Funding and a Muted Rebuke of the Department’s De Facto Dismantling
On Tuesday, January 20, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees released a bipartisan, bicameral appropriations legislative package to fund the Departments of Education, Labor, Health and Human Services, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Defense, Homeland Security, and related agencies. The bill must pass in both chambers and be enacted by the President by the current expiration of funding at the end of January to avoid another government shutdown. The Senate is out of session this week but will return during the final week of the month.
Under the bicameral package, the Department of Education would receive a discretionary total of $79 billion, an increase of $217 million above current funding levels. Unlike the Continuing Resolution, this package includes no prohibitions on implementing further staffing reductions at the Department of Education.
The package’s release was accompanied by a series of Explanatory Statements, akin to Congressional Reports, providing insight into Congress’ intent behind the funding bill. The Explanatory Statement relating to Education provisions includes expressions of concern about the Department’s use of Interagency Agreements to transfer statutorily authorized programs and functions outside of the Department (more below).
While the Trump administration’s budget proposal included deep cuts to K-12 federal funding, and would have removed or restructured many grant programs, the new proposal would leave funding levels relatively stable. Early Childhood and P-12 funding includes:
Title I-A: $18.4 billion, a $20 million increase over current funding levels
Title I-C (migrant education): $376 million
Title II-A (professional development): $2.2 billion
Title III (English learners): $890 million
Title IV-A (academic enrichment): $1.4 billion
Title IV-B (afterschool programs): $1.3 billion
IDEA: $14.2 billion, a $20 million increase over current funding levels
IDEA Part B (preschool): $420 million
IDEA Part C (infants and toddlers): $540 million
Vocational Rehabilitation: $4.6 billion
Full-Service Community Schools: $150 million
REAP (rural schools): $225 million
Impact Aid: $1.6 billion
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act: $129 million
Child Care and Development Block Grants: $8.8 billion, a $85 million increase over current funding levels
Head Start/Early Head Start: $12.4 billion, a $85 million increase over current funding levels
Preschool Development Grants: $315 million
Career and Technical Education: $2.18 billion
Mental Health Services Professional Grants: $82 million
Project SERV: up to $6 million
School-Based Mental Health Services Grants: $82 million
School Safety Enhancement Grants: $20 million
The package similarly rejects deep cuts to higher education programs proposed by the President’s budget proposal. Higher education funding includes:
Pell Grants: $22.5 billion, with the maximum award remaining $7,395
Basic Needs Grants: $10 million
CCAMPIS (campus-based child care): $75 million
TRIO: $1.2 billion
GEAR UP: $388 million
Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant: $910 million
Federal Work-Study: $1.2 billion
The Department’s Office for Civil Rights would receive $140 million.
* Note: some programs are not administered by the Department.
Appropriators also released an Explanatory Statement that speaks directly to the Department’s Interagency Agreements and program transfers. Specifically, the Statement notes that appropriators are funding the Department to carry out its statutorily authorized programs, projects, and activities; the transfer of funding to another agency is prohibited unless specifically authorized under appropriations law and no authority exists for the Department to transfer its fundamental responsibilities. The Statement goes on to note appropriators’ concern about the Department’s “recent, unprecedented” use of Interagency Agreements to transfer significant programmatic responsibilities to other agencies that “do not have the experience, expertise, or capacity to carry out these programs and activities and lack developed relationships and communications with relevant stakeholders, including States.” The Statement concludes with concerns that “fragmenting responsibilities for education programs across multiple agencies will create inefficiencies,” higher costs, and delays in funding reaching States, school districts, and schools, and will “weaken Federal support to protect the rights of students, children, youth, and families under Federal education laws.”
The Statement concludes by directing the Department and signatory agencies to provide biweekly briefings to the Committees on the implementation of the Interagency Agreements.
While the Explanatory Statement clearly shows Congress’ levels of concern over the administration’s de facto dismantling of the Department of Education, the appropriations language itself does not include any new restraints on the Department. Section 512, which largely prohibits the transfer of funds outside of the Department, mirrors language that has appeared in previous Appropriations Acts. In the absence of new specific legislative barriers, it is unlikely that the bill, as proposed, will cause the Department to halt the continued transfer of critical functions.
Full legislative text available here
Joint Explanatory Statement available here
Senate Committee bill summary available here
House Committee majority bill summary available here
House Committee minority bill summary available here
Congressionally Directed Spending list available here