Appropriators Decry Dramatic Reduction in Department of Education Grants

On Tuesday, Senate Appropriations Vice Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) and Education Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Tammy Baldwin (D-WA) wrote to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to ask the U.S. Department of Education to immediately reverse a new practice of extensive frontloading of discretionary education grants. Standard practice for ED awardees is to provide funding each year, subject to annual appropriation. Frontloading, historically used only in rare circumstances, allows grantees to receive a multi-year grant payment in a single lump sum. The practice requires significantly more funding per grant in year one, dramatically reducing the number of grants that can be awarded. 

“This policy defies congressional intent and effectively cuts investment in communities across the country,” write Murray and Baldwin, adding “the Department could have funded well over 1,000 more grants” if their historical grantmaking practices had been followed.

To view the letter, go here. 

Learn more about the impact of front-loading grants in CEC's latest explainer video.