Letter from All4Ed CEO Amy Loyd to Senate Leadership Opposing Reconciliation Package

May 30, 2025

Dear Majority Leader Thune and Minority Leader Schumer:

We write with grave urgency regarding the devastating implications of the proposed reconciliation package currently under consideration. This legislation stands as one of the most regressive and harmful policy packages our organization has witnessed in decades of education advocacy. The effort’s systematic dismantling of critical support systems for our nation’s most vulnerable populations represents an unconscionable abandonment of American values and principles.

An Unprecedented Attack on Educational Equity

The Educational Choice for Children Act’s creation of a $20 billion tax credit scheme to subsidize private education is not merely misguided, it is a deliberate redirection of desperately needed public resources. When All4Ed conducted comprehensive, bipartisan, nationwide polling, the results were unequivocal: Americans across the political spectrum overwhelmingly reject diverting public funds to private educational institutions. They understand, as should our elected representatives, that public education is the cornerstone of our democratic society.

The stark reality is that private institutions operate with virtually no accountability for discrimination against students with disabilities, maintaining selective admissions practices that fundamentally undermine equal educational opportunity. This represents not reform, but regression to educational policies that serve the privileged few while abandoning the many. The bill’s proponents have also failed entirely to address how the voucher fantasy would function in rural America, where the practical reality renders such programs useless. The Urban Institute’s analysis and research from Brookings reveals the sobering truth: over half of rural students live at least 5 miles from any private institution, with 34 percent residing at least 10 miles from such facilities. For many rural working families, driving their children to these institutions is more than an inconvenience, it represents insurmountable barriers.

The $20 billion earmarked for this ill-conceived program far exceeds current investments in rural education programs by orders of magnitude. How can we justify such an egregious misallocation of resources when our rural public schools, often the lifeblood of their communities, continue to struggle with chronic underfunding.

Decimating Higher Education Access

We are also alarmed by the bill’s staggering $350 billion reduction in federal student aid programs. This represents nothing less than pulling up the ladder of opportunity for millions of Americans aspiring to better their lives through education. There is little transparency in determining how loan limits will be calculated and will be unstable from year to year. This would mean both limited borrowing capacity and the inability to plan ahead.

By simultaneously restricting borrowing capacity and raising eligibility thresholds for Pell Grants, this legislation erects formidable financial barriers precisely when we should remove them. Moreover, the bill turns its back on proven programs while extending short-term Pell opportunities with little to no checks or balances.

The elimination of federal subsidies on student loans will disproportionately impact first- generation college students and those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, the very individuals for whom higher education represents the most straightforward path to economic mobility and security.

Healthcare Coverage in Freefall

The Congressional Budget Office’s analysis projects that at least 8.6 million Americans would lose healthcare coverage under the bill’s proposed $715 billion reduction to health programs, with Medicaid bearing the brunt of these cuts. The ripple effects through our educational systems would be profound, as schools would face impossible choices between providing essential health services and maintaining core educational functions.

The broader impacts to Medicaid will also have an enormous impact on state funding for education. Medicaid and education are often the top two line items in every state’s budget. If Medicaid is cut, state leaders will be left with a ‘Sophie’s choice’ of cutting health spending or education spending. The federal cuts to K-12 education are bad enough, but this could have a real impact on state investment on top of being cruel, inhumane policy.

Additionally, the bill’s punitive measures against states that provide coverage to residents who are undocumented reveals its true nature, not fiscal responsibility, but targeted cruelty toward vulnerable populations.

The Assault on Food Security

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides essential support to America’s most vulnerable families. The bill’s requirement that states assume at least 5 percent of SNAP costs, amounting to a crushing $4.7 billion burden at minimum, represents a cynical shifting of federal responsibility. For context, this amount exceeds federal investments in after-school programs by a factor of five.

Coupled with the changes to the Free and Reduced Price Lunch program (FRL) over the past decade that has led states to change the identification of low-income students from eligibility, including participation in SNAP. The Urban Institute projects that over one million children will no longer be eligible for FRL with the proposed changes in the budget reconciliation bill. Additionally, for the states that have moved to universal free meals, they stand to lose substantial revenue that they rely on to offer nutrition to over nine million students. The inevitable result will be reduced benefits, tightened eligibility, and increased hunger among children and families already struggling to meet basic needs.

A Call to Help Families Realize the American Dream

We implore you to recognize this legislation for what it truly is: not responsible governance, but a fundamental abdication of our collective responsibility to the most vulnerable among us. Instead of this misguided approach, we must fully fund key programs like Title I-A, IDEA, Title III, and Perkins, expand mental health services in schools, and strengthen the public education system that remains our best hope for equitable opportunity for all.

This bill represents a profound betrayal of our nation’s commitment to its children and families. It is inconceivable that in one of the world’s wealthiest nations, we would contemplate legislation that so thoroughly abandons those most in need of support and protection.

The choice before Congress is clear: reject this harmful legislation and recommit to policies that uphold our highest values or accept the lasting damage it would inflict on countless American families. History will judge this moment, and the decisions made about this deeply flawed bill, with unsparing clarity.

With utmost concern,

Amy Loyd, Ed.L.D.
Chief Executive Officer
All4Ed

CC: Members of Senate Leadership