July 2016
On July 14, the House Appropriations Committee passed the Labor, Health and Human Services (Labor-HHS), and Education spending bill for the 2017 fiscal year (FY). The legislation would cut funding for the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) by $82 million, or 13.3 percent, from $618 million to $536 million for FY 2017. As reported in the June AERA Highlights, the Senate version of the bill calls for a much smaller cut—$5.5 million—to IES, down 1 percent from FY 2016.
AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine sent a letter to House Appropriations Committee members stating opposition to the cuts to IES.
“These cuts would have a major impact on the education research community and would negatively affect the production of knowledge for years to come,” Levine wrote. “If these cuts are part of a final budget agreement, the biggest losers will be students across the country who would otherwise benefit from advances in research and from the cumulative, well-warranted knowledge that enable them to succeed.”
The bulk of the cuts for IES in the House bill are for Research, Development, and Dissemination, which would see a cut of $40.5 million. The National Assessment of Educational Progress and the National Assessment Governing Board would see a combined decrease of $20.5 million from FY 2016. The following table includes detailed information on the various funding proposals for IES:
Appropriations Proposals for IES (in $ millions)
|
FY 2016 (enacted)
|
FY 17 President Request
|
FY 17 Senate (proposed)
|
FY 17 House (proposed)
|
IES Total
|
618
|
694
|
612
|
536
|
Research, Development, and Dissemination
|
195
|
209
|
190
|
154
|
Statistics
|
112
|
125
|
112
|
103
|
Regional Educational Laboratories
|
54
|
54
|
54
|
54
|
Research in Special Education
|
54
|
54
|
54
|
49
|
Special Education Studies and Evaluation
|
11
|
13
|
11
|
11
|
Statewide Data Systems
|
35
|
81
|
35
|
27
|
Assessment
|
157
|
157
|
156
|
137
|
During the House Labor-HHS subcommittee’s markup of the bill on July 7, subcommittee ranking member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) introduced an amendment that would restore funding for the programs targeted for cuts in the bill to FY 2016 levels. The amendment was rejected on a party-line vote. Rep. DeLauro introduced a similar amendment at the full committee markup to restore funding for some programs slated for cuts—including IES.
While this marks the second year in a row that a Labor-HHS bill has moved through the full committee, the likelihood of a House vote is low. The growing expectation on Capitol Hill is that funding for FY 2017 eventually will be advanced in a continuing resolution.
AERA has engaged in several activities in seeking increased funding for IES:
- The Friends of IES, led by AERA, sent a letter to House Appropriations Committee members earlier this year, seeking $728 million for IES for FY 2017.
- A Dear Colleague letter led by Representatives Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Jared Huffman (D-CA), and Michael Honda (D-CA) garnered 27 signatures of members of Congress in support of funding IES at $728 million.
- AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine submitted testimony to the subcommittee in April in addition to the letter of serious concern sent on July 14.