CEC Pens Letter to Appropriators Seeking Increased Funding in FY 2025

The Council for Exceptional Children has submitted its annual funding request for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 to boost programs that support infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities and/or gifts and talents. Highlights include ample funding for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act programs, special education research, the Javits Gifted and Talented grant program and school mental health personnel. FY 2025 is anticipated to be an austere funding year for all government agencies, and especially for education programs. This week, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) provided a preview of the direction his committee will take, announcing an approximately 10 percent cut to the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies spending bill, which funds IDEA and other key education programs. The topline decrease does not mean cuts would be equal across the board. While this is just one step in the process of finalizing FY 2025 funding levels, it underscores the urgent need for strong advocacy to maintain and grow these programs this year.

To view CEC’s FY 2025 letter, go here.

To view Chairman Cole’s press release announcing proposed cuts, go here.

Action Alert!

House appropriators are already discussing cuts to spending for the bill that funds public education. Please voice your concerns and urge them to maintain and increase support for education. Your voice is critical. Please join your colleagues here and share this action alert widely!