On Monday, President Biden released his FY 25 Budget, detailing his priorities for the upcoming fiscal year. The responsibility to enact legislation related to annual government spending lies with Congress, but the annual release of the President's budget signals the unofficial start of appropriations season as advocates and lawmakers alike use the Budget to start generating support for funding increases, or cuts, they want to specific grants and programs as compared to last year. As such, the President's budget request makes clear what the White House's fiscal and policy priorities will be in the upcoming year. Given that the entire budget justification is more than 1400 pages long, it can be difficult to parse out exactly what the President is requesting and how that differs from previous policy and investment levels. This year is no different; in part because Congress has yet to finalize FY24 spending levels, even though FY24 began on October 1, 2023.

It wasn't supposed to be this difficult. Last summer, as part of an effort to avoid defaulting on the nation's debt, Congress passed bipartisan legislation that, among other things, set parameters for FY24 and FY25 education funding. However, the spirit of compromise proved to be short lived and House Appropriators proposed significant cuts in their FY24 legislation that fell well outside the agreed upon spending levels. Meanwhile, Senate appropriators worked in a bipartisan fashion to craft education and related spending legislation that adhered to the deal. Another bipartisan deal was struck, this time to avoid a government shut down, but this deal set off a chain reaction of events that led to the unprecedented removal of a sitting Speaker of the House, bringing almost all legislative activity to a halt, and leaving many wondering if Congress would ever be able fulfill one of its most fundamental Constitutional responsibilities: funding the government.

Fast forward to now. Last Friday, Congress finally enacted appropriations for some federal agencies.  They have until midnight, Friday, March 22^nd, to pass legislation that funds the rest of the government, including the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services.  It is widely expected that this legislation will pass, but given recent history, nothing is certain. What is certain, however, is that we are entering a challenging environment. The billions of COVID relief dollars provided to districts are set to run out, leaving many districts worried about staff cuts and reduction in services at a time when student need has never been greater. Public education continues to come under attack and members of Congress have signaled their willingness to make deep cuts to critical education investments, regardless of agreed upon deals.

The President's Budget represents a commitment to preserve and maintain the recent, historic investments in public education considering the fiscal constraints and spending caps in place for FY25. We will need to fight hard to protect these investments over the next several months. NASP is already working with our Congressional partners to determine the best path forward to ensure the maximum available investments that address our priorities. You can read the detailed proposal for the Department of Education here and information about a few of our funding priorities are outlined below.

• $216 million for mental health programs in K-12 schools, to increase the number of school counselors, psychologists, social workers and other mental health professionals in K-12 schools. 
  • Note: only $16M would be available for NEW awards and we will be working to increase this critical investment.
• $18.6 billion for Title I, a minimal increase over currently enacted funding levels.
• $14.4 billion for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) grants. Although a slight increase over current levels, this would bring the federal contribution toward the cost of educating students with disabilities to approximately 10%, far below the promised 40% contribution.  
• $162 million for the Department's Office of Civil Rights, a $22 million increase, to help address the unprecedented level of complaints received by the office.

Over the coming months, we will need your voice to ensure we protect these and other critical federal investments. Stay tuned for additional details and ways to advocate.