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All Aboard the Omnibus: Increases in Federal Education Investments in FY 2023

Posted by: Maria Cornell and Kelly Vaillancourt Strobach, NASP Policy and Advocacy Staff on

House and Senate appropriations leaders have reached a bipartisan agreement on the omnibus bill just days before funding for the federal government expires. Assuming this bill quickly passes through both chambers, Congress will not only avoid a government shutdown but will also provide funding for key programs that support schools, students, and families.

Thanks to your advocacy, many of NASP's funding priorities were included in the FY 2023 spending package. (link to full legislative text and managers' statement).

The bill would increase funding for the Department of Education by $3.2 billion, which is greater than some expected and was a welcome surprise. Both Title I and IDEA received increases, although more funding is needed to match the level of student and school need. The spending package also includes critical investments to support students with disabilities, to improve access to school and community based mental health services, and to address critical workforce shortages of school psychologists and other educators. Highlights include:

  • $111 million for school-based mental health programs, including expanding training for school psychologists, and continuation grants;
  • $140 million for the Office of Civil Rights, to ensure there are adequate human and financial resources to carry out its charge of upholding and enforcing students' civil rights;
  • $18.4 billion for Title I Grants to local educational agencies,
  • $15.5 billion for Special Education, including:
  • $14.2 billion for IDEA Part B Grants to States
  • $115 million for IDEA Personnel Preparation
  • $150 million for Full-Service Community Schools;
  • Funding to support continued research and professional development in social-emotional learning and other "whole child" approaches to student learning;
  • $808 million for the Institute of Education Sciences, which includes the National Center for Special Education Research;
  • $216 million for school safety national activities, which shall be used by the Department for competitive grant competitions, technical assistance and capacity-building centers, or Project SERV (Note that the $15 million increase in these funds can be used for funding competitions of the Mental Health Service Professionals Demonstration Grant and the School-Based Mental Health Services Grant Program!);
  • $215 million for education programs in rural school districts;
  • $129 million for Education for Homeless Children and Youth;
  • $315 million for Preschool Development Grants;
  • $140 million for Project AWARE; and
  • Increased funding for Mental Health Awareness Training.

To read more about what else was included in the Labor-HHS-Education section of the omnibus bill, you can also check out the House Democratic summary, the Senate Republican summary, or the Senate Democratic summary.