An E-rate expansion that allowed schools to use the program’s funds for school bus Wi-Fi and hotspots for students could soon be reversed, pending a vote called for by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr. According to a spokesperson, commissioners can vote on the matter outside of their open…
According to a Labor Day news release, U.S. House Republicans are considering a $5.2 billion cut (27%) reduction in Title I funding for low-income schools and districts under a fiscal year 2026 (FY26) proposal. The proposal would cut overall funding for the U.S. Department of Education (USDE), including K-12 and…
On July 31, 2025, the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee (Committee) approved a bipartisan spending bill for fiscal year 2026 (FY26) that would prevent the executive branch from removing Title I and special education programs to agencies outside the U.S. Department of Education (USDE). The legislation also rejects several other funding…
On July 25, 2025. the Trump administration announced plans to release more than $5 billion in funding to public schools that it has withheld for nearly a month. According to the U.S. Education Department (USDE), the funds will be released starting the week of Monday July 28, 2025. Legislators from…
On July 17, 2025, ten Republican senators made a similar plea that had previously been made in a July 10 letter by 32 Democratic senators to unfreeze over $6 billion in funds being withheld by the Office of Budget Management (OMB). In their plea, the GOP senators stated that they don’t believe the over…
During a July 14, 2025 session at a legislative summit hosted by the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) and the Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE), special education professionals from across the country urged the federal government to make investments in student mental health, citing the dire need for…
In a statement by the Pennsylvania (PA) Department of Human Services, proposed congressional cuts would fundamentally destabilize the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that helps both communities and the economy and will only disrupt the state's economy, workforce, and charitable food network. The USDA Economic Research Service found that every…
At a June 5, 2025 congressional hearing it was reported that the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has seen caseloads for those still employed at the agency ballooning from an average of 42 cases per caseworker to 115 per caseworker due to the March 2025 layoffs…
On Tuesday, June 3, 2025, U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon defended the U.S. Department of Education's (USDE) FY 26 Budget at a Senate hearing on Capital Hill. The budget recommends a total of $66.7 billion for all USDE activities, which would be $12 billion, or 15.3%, less than its current…
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which narrowly passed 215-214, sees House Republicans proposing to scale down funding for the two programs for low-income Americans as a cost-savings measure, while also aiming to prioritize tax cuts. According to a preliminary analysis by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) the bill would…
