Department of Education and OMB Withholding Education Funds

Schools and other education programs rely on federal funds to help make tight budgets work and to provide valuable programming for students and all learners. Normally, a large portion of federal funds are distributed on July 1, but this year on June 30, all state departments of education received notification that the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) had placed certain federal education programs under review and that the expected funds would not be released on July 1.

To date, the Department has offered no rationale for these delays. As a result, educational institutions are being forced to layoff staff, cancel programs, and terminate contracts that will impact more than 95,000 schools, nearly 55 million K-12 students, and 1.2 million adult learners across the nation. Even if funds are released imminently, damage has already been done.

This is a critical time to share how federal funding is vital to ensuring students have access to a quality education. We hope that you will contact your Representative and Senators and ask them to reach out to the Department and OMB and urge the immediate release of these funds.

This campaign includes a template message for your letter to Congress, but we encourage you to personalize your message and share why YOU support these programs.