June 25, 2025

Re: Urgent Concerns Regarding Withholding of Critical Education Funding

Dear Senator,

We write to you today as a coalition of educational equity advocacy organizations representing millions of students, families, and educators across the United States. We are deeply concerned about the uncertainty, delays, and withholding of billions of critical federal education funding that Congress appropriated through the continuing resolution passed in March for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025. This situation demands immediate congressional attention and action. As such, we specifically ask that you oppose the confirmation of any nominations to the Department of Education until all FY 2025 congressionally appropriated education funds have been properly and fully released.

The failure to release billions in congressionally appropriated education funds in a timely manner represents a potential violation of federal law and a direct threat to the educational opportunities of our nation’s most vulnerable students. We are particularly alarmed by what appears to be an attempt to illegally impound funds that the administration is legally obligated to distribute as Congress intended and directed.

The affected programs serve as lifelines for students who face the greatest barriers to educational success, including:

• The $376 million Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title I-C – Migrant Education Program: These grants support the education of children whose families move frequently for agricultural work, ensuring continuity of education despite geographic mobility.
• The $2.19 billion ESEA Title II-A – Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants: These funds are essential for recruiting, preparing, and retaining high-quality teachers and principals, particularly in high-need and hard-to-staff schools, including rural schools and schools in areas of concentrated poverty, and subject areas, like special education.
• The $890 million ESEA Title III – Language Instruction for English Learners and Immigrant Students: This funding provides critical support for English language learners, helping schools develop language instruction programs and provide supplemental services so that these students can develop their English language fluency as well as content knowledge in core academic subjects.
• The $1.33 billion 21st Century Community Learning Centers: These funds provide critical before-school, after-school, and summer learning opportunities, particularly in high-poverty communities. Working families, in particular, rely on these opportunities, and students need them now more than ever as they are continuing to catch up from lost instructional time during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Every day these funds, and others not listed, remain withheld, real students suffer real consequences: Teachers go without professional development, English learners lack language support, migrant students face additional barriers to consistent schooling, adult learners cannot access literacy and civics programs, and working families lose access to safe, enriching after-school programs. The administration’s failure to release these funds is not merely an administrative oversight—it is a betrayal of Congress’s intent and a violation of federal law.

Given the severity of this situation and the administration’s apparent disregard for congressional intent regarding education funding, we urge you to take immediate action. Specifically, we call upon you to oppose the confirmation of any nominations to the Department of Education until all FY 2025 congressionally appropriated education funds have been properly and fully released as intended by Congress. We also urge you to direct the Government Accountability Office to review the Department’s actions to determine whether they constitute an illegal impoundment of funds.

Our students cannot afford further delays. We implore you to use every tool at your disposal to ensure that the billions of dollars in FY 2025 congressionally appropriated education funding reaches the students and schools that depend on it immediately.

Sincerely,

All4Ed
Brighter Future for Colorado
Brown’s Promise
The Chicago Public Education Fund
EdTrust
Educators for Excellence
Families In Schools
Kids First Chicago
National Center for Learning Disabilities
UnidosUS