Committee on Appropriations
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Representative:
On behalf of our 3 million members and the 50 million students they serve, we urge you to VOTE NO on the FY25 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill before the Committee this week due to its draconian cuts to public schools and programs serving students and educators. Votes on this issue will be included in NEA’s Report Card for the 118th Congress.
It is disturbing that this bill, similar to last year’s failed effort by the majority, contains extreme cuts to our nation’s public schools rather than making necessary investments in our students, educators and families. Specifically, the bill slashes education overall by $11 billion or 14 percent. Among the most egregious and short-sighted cuts includes a:
- 25 percent cut to Title I that will negatively impact 25 million students in 9 out of 10 school districts;
- complete elimination of Title II, which funds professional development for educators and helps reduce class sizes so students can receive more individual attention;
- full elimination of Title III – the English Language Learner program;
- full elimination of Teacher Quality Partnership and Hawkins Centers for Excellence, critical programs that support high-quality clinical educator preparation programs; and
- 50 percent cut to the effective Full-Service Community Schools program.
In addition, the bill contains harmful riders that would block the U.S. Department of Education from implementing regulations related to student loans and income-driven repayment plans.
Taken together, the cuts in the bill will jeopardize the needed services our schools and educators provide to students, and could lead to the loss of tens of thousands of educator jobs.
We urge you to VOTE NO on the FY25 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill.
Sincerely,
Marc Egan
Director of Government Relations
National Education Association
