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Don’t cut education in a final deal on FY2024 appropriations

Draconian cuts in education funding sought by GOP hardliners cruelly target the most vulnerable.
A young black girl sits in a classroom with other children and is starting at a paper on her desk, appearing frustrated Adobe Stock

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Urge your senators and representative not to cut education funding

On Jan. 7, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Speaker Mike Johnson agreed to hew to top lines for the FY2024 budget set last spring, during negotiations to raise the debt ceiling that culminated in passage of the bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act. 

Overall, FY2024 nondefense discretionary funding is expected to be about what it was in FY2023. How big a share goes to education has not yet been determined. 

Due to years of budget caps and cuts, education is already seriously underfunded. The annual appropriation for ongoing programs is $13.6 billion less than it was a dozen year ago (after adjusting for inflation). 

We must reverse this tragic trajectory—in particular, increase funding for high-poverty schools through Title I, in children with disabilities through IDEA, and in full-service community schools.