House subcommittee releases FY 2026 education spending bill with afterschool funding maintained

Update Sept. 3, 2025: Last night the House LHHS Appropriations Subcommittee advanced their FY 2026 spending bill along party lines with a vote of 11 in favor and 7 opposed. The spending bill is expected to be marked up by the full Appropriations Committee in the coming days, although it has not yet been scheduled. A summary of the bill by the majority and a summary by the minority are available, as are the bill text and a recording of the markup.

On the first day back from August recess, the House Appropriations Labor, Health, and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) Subcommittee was scheduled to mark up its Fiscal Year 2026 bill. In a stark contrast to the Senate’s version, the House bill cuts funding for Department of Education (ED) programs by $12 billion (15%) below current levels, funding the Department at $67 billion. Despite these deep cuts, dedicated funding for afterschool and summer programs through the 21st Century Community Learning Center (21st CCLC) initiative was maintained at the previous year’s level of $1.329 billion, the same level proposed in the Senate LHHS spending bill. Earlier this year, the White House proposed to eliminate funding for 21st CCLC, instead collapsing it into a block grant with 17 other education programs. The House bill rejects this proposal, as did the Senate Appropriations Committee, and afterschool advocates are grateful to the leadership of House Appropriations Committee Chair Cole (R-Okla.), Ranking Member DeLauro (D-Conn.), and LHHS Subcommittee Chair Aderholt (R-Ala.) for recognizing the importance of local afterschool and summer programs that support students, families, and communities nationwide.

Overall, the FY 2026 LHHS spending bill (which includes funding for Health and Human Services, Labor, and several other smaller agencies in addition to Education) provides a total discretionary allocation of $184.5 billion, which is $13.7 billion (7%) below the FY 2025 level with eliminations or cuts to more than 100 different programs.

While 21st CCLC funding is protected in the bill, overall, the bill proposes cuts and program eliminations that will be devastating to students and families. This includes slashing Title I funding by $5.2 billion (27%), eliminating Full-Service Community Schools, Promise Neighborhoods, Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS), and Title II – Supporting effective instruction state grants – all of which can and do support local afterschool programs. The bill also cuts Department of Labor (DOL) funding by $4 billion (30%) below the FY 2025 enacted level.

The bill was expected to pass the LHHS Subcommittee by a partisan vote and then move to the full House Appropriations Committee for approval in the coming days. The House LHHS spending proposal follows the lower topline spending levels set by the House leadership earlier this year. The House and Senate will need to negotiate their many differences before a compromise FY 2026 LHHS bill becomes law. With FY 2026 beginning in just 28 days on October 1, passing a bipartisan LHHS spending bill will be a monumental task. A continuing resolution is expected to be considered before the end of September, but if the House and Senate cannot agree to a temporary continuation of funding by the end of the month, the federal government could shut down until such a compromise is reached. The House LHHS bill would provide $67 billion in discretionary funding for the Department of Education.

Key proposed funding provisions related to afterschool and summer support in the House bill include the following:

ESEA K-12 Education Funding

• $1.329 billion for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program (Title IV Part B), which supports before-school, afterschool, and summer learning programs for nearly 1.4 million students. The program would receive the same amount of funding as it did in FY 2025. The bill does not consolidate 21st CCLC funds into a new block grant as proposed by the President’s FY 2026 budget request.
   
• $14.6 billion for Title I, Part A formula grants for Local Education Agencies, a $3.78 billion cut from FY 2025. These education funds can be used by school districts serving low-income students to support afterschool and summer learning, as well as a wide range of other activities and student supports. 
   
• $1.385 billion for Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants, also known as Title IV Part A, this is an increase of $5 million from FY 2025. These funds can be used for afterschool Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM), physical activity, education technology, and a host of other activities. The bill does not consolidate these funds into a new block grant as proposed by the President’s FY 2026 budget request. 
   
• Elimination for Full Service Community Schools, down from $150 million last year; this 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. 

Career and Technical Education Funding

• $1.465 billion for career and technical education (CTE) – an increase of $25 million from FY 2025 levels, which can be used for school community partnerships supporting middle school and high school youth engaged in career-connected learning

Child Care Funding

• $8.7 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant—level with fiscal year 2025—which helps families across the country find and afford the child care they need. 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 and toddlers. 

Other Afterschool-Related Funding

• Elimination for the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) program, a cut of $75 million from FY 2025. The funding provides competitive grants for campuses to offer child care centers, including before- and afterschool programs, to support parents in accessing post-secondary education.
   
• $779 million for Federal Work Study, a cut of $451 million from last year, which can help support college students working in afterschool and other community-based organizations while attending college.
   
• $524.7 million for AmeriCorps State and National grants – the name of AmeriCorps is also changed to the “America First Corps.” The program is directed in part to focus on national service efforts surrounding the 250^th anniversary of the United States. Historically, AmeriCorps members served in communities across the country and worked to address pressing challenges, including supporting afterschool and summer learning programs. 
   
• $100 million for a new Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) initiative, which will allow the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to invest in prevention and innovation programs for rural communities, telehealth resources for chronic care, and nutrition services. This could represent an opportunity for afterschool programs that emphasize physical activity and nutrition education.

Congressionally directed funding requests, similar to the earmarks of the past, are not included in the House LHHS bill. The Report for the bill is not yet available and may include more details on 21st CCLC and other programs.

The voices of programs and program supporters are as important as ever in this process! We know 25 million youth await access to affordable afterschool programs. With the White House proposal to eliminate 21st CCLC and the recent temporary withholding of this year’s funds, having 21st CCLC funded at last year’s level in both the House and Senate LHHS bills is encouraging, although uncertainty remains. It is essential to continue reaching out to representatives about the need for dedicated afterschool and summer funding, not just in 21st CCLC but also in the other Education and HHS programs that provide important supports for students during and after the school day. For local afterschool and summer programs, the same amount of funding as last year represents a cut as costs continue to rise, making it challenging to serve the same number of students in the future and failing to address growing demand for afterschool and summer learning programs.

It continues to be important for friends of afterschool to let Congress know that robust education funding in FY 2026 for the 2026-2027 school year is imperative.