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Joint Equity Priorities for FY24 Appropriations

Advocacy

Honorable Patty Murray
Chairwoman
Committee on Appropriations
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Honorable Susan Collins
Ranking Member
Committee on Appropriations
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Honorable Kay Granger
Chairwoman
Committee on Appropriations
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Honorable Rosa DeLauro
Ranking Member
Committee on Appropriations
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairwomen Murray and Granger and Ranking Members Collins and DeLauro:

Thank you for your continued leadership in fighting for essential federal resources in response to the persistent challenges students and schools, especially those most marginalized and vulnerable, are facing.

As you begin work on the Fiscal Year 2024 Appropriations process, we – the undersigned civil rights, education, and immigration organizations – write to support a continued emphasis on educational equity as reflected in the policies and funding levels the administration put forward in their FY 2024 budget. The budget proposal comes at a time when the nation’s educational system is in transition. While the most acute aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic have ebbed, the need to fix the long-standing systemic flaws within our school systems that result in racial, social, and economic inequalities remains, alongside the urgent need to make up for lost learning and development opportunities.

The programs and funding levels highlighted below will help address these and other challenges facing students, among them: food insecurity, lost instructional time during the 2019-20, 2020-21, and 2021-22 school years, reduced availability of student supports and education services, inequitable access to learning resources, intermittent access to high-speed home internet, and homelessness, alongside ongoing systemic racial inequities. To that end, as you develop the FY 2024 appropriations legislation, we strongly support the following funding levels for these essential programs:

Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Programs:

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Programs:

McKinney-Vento Act’s Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program:

Higher Education Act (HEA) Programs:

Data, Innovation, and Connectivity Programs:

Career and Technical Education Programs:

Advancements to Funding Equity and Targeting Needs :

Resources for critical Department of Education operations:

We support the funding levels highlighted above and believe they represent a continued commitment to students, educators, and families as we continue to combat the lasting effects of COVID.

Sincerely,

All4Ed
Education Reform Now
National Center on Learning Disabilities
SchoolHouse Connection
Teach Plus
The Education Trust
UnidosUS