Congress’ FY 2022 Budget Includes Additional $448 Million for Special Education
Early this morning, Congress released the text of a bipartisan spending package for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022, the fiscal year which officially began on October 1, 2021. The omnibus appropriations bill would increase domestic spending by approximately seven percent, resulting in funding boosts much smaller than the levels proposed by President Biden and passed by the House of Representatives last summer. Overall, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) would receive a $2.9 billion increase, or 3.8 percent, a far cry from the proposed 40 percent increase that President Biden and Democratic leaders in on the Appropriations Committee originally proposed. K-12 education would receive a $2 billion increase. With limited funds, appropriators dedicated nearly a quarter of new K-12 funding to special education, with an overall increase of $448 million.
“Fiscal Year 2022 provided the first tangible opportunity to put IDEA on the glidepath to full funding, beginning to make up for historical inequities in funding,” said CEC President Danielle Kovach. “While CEC is pleased to see small increases for some IDEA programs, a budget is about priorities. We are disappointed that supporting education and development for infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities continues to fail to meet that threshold for Congress.”
Below are details about the programs that CEC advocates for proactively (numbers are rounded):
| Program | FY 2021 | CEC request | FY 2022 omnibus | $ increase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IDEA Part B grants to states | $12.9 billion | $15.5 billion* | $13.3 billion | $406 million |
| IDEA Part B preschool grants | $398 million | $503 million* | $410 million | $12 million |
| IDEA Part C infants and toddlers | $482 million | $732 million* | $496 million | $14.5 million |
| IDEA Part D personnel preparation | $90 million | $250 million* | $95 million | $5 million |
| Javits Gifted and Talented Grants Program | $13.5 million | $32 million | $14.5 million | $1 million |
| National Center for Special Education Research | $58.5 million | $70 million | $60.3 million | $1.8 million |
*Mirrors Biden and House/Senate Democratic proposals
Nearly five months into FY 2022, the deal came after months of intense negotiations and a handful of short-term stop-gap spending measures, known as continuing resolutions (CRs). The current CR is set to expire at midnight on Friday, and it is likely that Congress will need to afford itself another very short term extension to avoiding a lapse in federal funding while the omnibus is approved and signed into law.
Lawmakers are expected to quickly pivot to action on FY 2023, with the President’s Budget expected as soon as next week. FY 2023 will provide CEC members with a new opportunity to bring forward your voices from the field as we continue to elevate the importance of federal investments in programs that support infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities and/or gifts and talents.