Key House subcommittee makes deep cuts to education spending in FY 25

On June 27, the House of Representatives Labor, Health and Human Services, Education (LHHS-ED) and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee marked up its FY 2025 spending bill. Overall, the FY 2025 Labor-Health and Humans Services-Education bill (Labor-H) provides $68.1 billion for Department of Education, a decrease of $11 billion, or 14%, below the FY 2024 level and $14.5 billion below the president's FY 2025 request. The proposed cut reflects the House Republican leadership’s decision to cut non-defense spending bills to the level of the statutory cap outlined in the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, which instated a 9% cut across all non-defense discretionary spending. House subcommittee approval of the bill is only one step in funding federal education programs for FY 2025. Ultimately, the House and Senate will have to negotiate a final spending bill and the Senate’s proposal, which is expected to be released and marked up at some point this summer, could use different spending limits than the House plan.

The House’s FY 2025 Labor-H bill proposes freezing funding for afterschool and summer learning available through the Nita M. Lowey 21^st Century Community Learning Centers (21^st CCLC) at last year’s funding level. If enacted in its current form, the bill would eliminate and/or substantially cut many other funding streams that can support high quality afterschool and summer learning.

The bill would provide $1.329 billion in funding for 21st CCLC – the only federal funding stream dedicated to supporting local afterschool, before-school, and summer learning programs, the same amount proposed by President Biden in his FY 2025 budget proposal. As afterschool providers nationwide know, because costs to operate programs continue to increase, the proposed funding level would result in fewer students served in the 2025-2026 school year, if the bill becomes law. The Afterschool Alliance and friends of afterschool and summer learning programs have been making the case on Capitol Hill that additional funding is required to support all students in programs, those waiting to get in, and to address the increased costs providers face. Two hundred youth and advocates met with lawmakers in Washington earlier this month to discuss how local communities need more federal support, but there is much more to be done. Today in the United States, for every child in an afterschool program, four more are waiting to get in. Some 24.7 million children not in an afterschool program would be enrolled if a program were available to them, according to a survey of approximately 1,500 parents commissioned by the Afterschool Alliance and conducted by Edge Research in 2022.

Additional funding provisions of the bill that would affect afterschool and summer learning programs include the following:

• An increase of $25 million over FY 2024 for the Child Care and Development Block Grant, for a total of $8.77 billion in discretionary funding. This Department of Health and Human Services program supports school-age children with afterschool and summer programs, in addition to providing child care to infants, toddlers and preschoolers.
   
• A $4.7 billion cut for ESSA Title I grants to Local Education Agencies, for a total of $13.7 billion, reflecting a 25 % cut. These Education funds can be used by school districts to support afterschool and summer learning.
   
• An increase of $10 million for Title IV Part A Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants, for a total of $1.39 billion. These funds can be used for afterschool science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programming, physical activity and a host of other uses.
   
• A $75 million cut (50%) for Full-Service Community Schools, for a total of $75 million. Full Service Community Schools funding supports comprehensive services and expands evidence-based models that meet the holistic needs of children, families, and communities, including afterschool and summer learning components.
   
• A $124 million cut for School-Based Mental Health Services Grants and Mental Health Service Professional Demonstration Grants, for a total of $50 million. These funds help Local Education Agencies (LEAs) directly increase the number of mental health and child development experts in schools.
   
• An increase of $10 million for the Career and Technical Education State Grants, for a total of $1.45 billion
   
• Elimination of funding for the Teenage Pregnancy Prevention program
   
• A cut of $615 million for Federal Work Study, for a total of $615 million. Federal Work Study can help support college students working in afterschool and other community-based organizations while attending college.
   
• The bill cuts $813 million from the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), for a total of $449 million. Within the total amount for CNCS, the bill:
  • Eliminates funding for AmeriCorps State and National, a cut of $557 million
  • Eliminates funding for the National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), a cut of $38 million
  • Eliminates funding for the National Service Trust, a cut of $180 million, which would eliminate funding for Education Awards for eligible participants who complete AmeriCorps service
     
• Elimination of funding for WIOA Youth Job Training state grants, a cut of $948 million that would eliminate job training and employment services for 128,000 youth who face barriers to employment
   
• Elimination of funding for Child Care Access Means Parents in School, a cut of $75 million below the enacted level
   
• Elimination of funding for English Language Acquisition, a cut of $890 million
   
• Elimination of funding for Title II-A (Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants), a cut of $2.2 billion
   
• Elimination of funding for Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) grants within the Education Innovation and Research program, a cut of $87 million

Following subcommittee approval the measure is expected to see full Committee action July 10. The Senate could also act on its spending plan for education, which is expected to be more generous, before the August recess. The annual spending process continues as lawmakers eye the September 30 deadline for passing all spending bills. Seasoned advocates say that enacting all 12 bills by that deadline is unlikely, and one or more continuing resolutions will be needed to prevent a full or partial federal government shut-down before presumed Congressional action on spending bills occurring after the November elections during a lame-duck session of Congress.

Making your voice heard this month is especially important as the bills being discussed now will likely be a foundation for future negotiations later this year. Friends of afterschool can weigh in with their members of Congress about the importance of funding afterschool and summer learning programs and the potential impact of devastating program freezes, eliminations, and cuts that would be felt in communities nationwide.