Senate Advances Spending Measure that Provides Increases to Education Funding

On Thursday, the Senate Appropriations Committee advanced its bipartisan proposal for Fiscal Year 2025 spending for Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-H), the bill that funds the U.S. Department of Education (ED). In stark contrast with the House proposal, which would cut ED, the Senate proposal would increase many key programs. The largest increase to K-12 education, $295 million, would go to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) grants to state programs, bringing that funding stream to approximately $14.5 billion. The IDEA preschool program would see a $5 million boost, bringing that program to $545 million. All other IDEA programs, the National Center for Special Education Research, and the Javits Gifted and Talented Education grant program would be funded at current levels. Title I, which provides funding to high-poverty schools, would receive a $280 million boost for a total of approximately $18.7 billion. The bill also continues investments in key programs that support and diversify the educator pipeline, such as the Hawkins Centers of Excellence and the Teacher Quality Partnerships. Congress is now in recess until after Labor Day and will face a short work session before it must decide on how to proceed with the new fiscal year before it begins on October 1, likely affording itself an extension until after the November elections. Any final bill must be a negotiated product that can be approved by both the House and Senate. 

To view the Senate proposal, go here.