Action Alerts

OUR ADVOCACY WORKED! The White House reports that these funds will be disbursed as planned. We will be monitoring the situation to make sure that happens.

ESSA Title IV-A and IV-B Impoundment Advocacy Toolkit

Audio Overview Podcast: Release Withheld Education Funds Action Alert

The United States Department of Education (ED) has informed states that they will not be receiving $6.9 billion in enacted FY 2025 state grant funding. The withheld funding by ED includes the following:

$376 million for Title I-C migrant education state grants
$890 million for Title III-A English language acquisition grants
$1.33 billion for Title IV-B 21st century community learning centers
$1.38 billion for Title IV-A student support and academic enrichment grants
$2.190 billion for Title II-A supporting effective instruction state grants
$715 million for adult education state grants

Since these funds were already appropriated by Congress for FY25, many schools have already adopted budgets for the upcoming school year that incorporate many of these essential funding streams from the federal government. This has created huge volatility in education funding, which limits student growth and achievement.

Why should I care?

Congress has the power to appropriate funding and the executive branch has the power to implement the laws, not to change them. ED’s action in withholding this funding is illegal, and many of these withheld funding streams go directly into supporting the STEM educational programs that many of you are a part of. NAC advocates are largely familiar with Title IV-A and Title IV-B funds, which represent billions of dollars that have gone towards STEM education.

We need your help in ensuring that the ED and the White House Office of Management and Budget is held accountable for this impoundment of funds. The billions of dollars in federal funding that is being withheld serves nearly 1.4 million students from PreK-12 at 10,000 local program sites, making it all the more pressing that you make your voice heard to your elected officials that these programs are important to you.

How can I take action?

Not sure who your Congressional Representative or United States Senators are? Use this link to identify them and ensure that you are voicing your concerns to the right person: Find Your Members of Congress

Next, you can do any or all of the following actions:

Fill out the Congressional elected officials action alert template located below. All items highlighted in yellow need to be filled out by you! Now, once you have this letter completed, you can either email it or mail it to your elected members of Congress to share your concerns!
Fill out the school board action template and send it to your school board! Also, we recommend that you not only send the action alert but also ask your school board to vote on one of the resolutions that we have written out below. This will encourage your school board to not only understand that these issues are important to their students but also take action to advocate for these funds.
Fill out the White House action alert template written below. You can either mail this directly to the White House (1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500) or use the online system for contacting the White House located here.
Fill out the Department of Education action alert template. You can either mail this directly to the ED (400 Maryland Ave SW, Washington, DC 20202) or look for an alternate way to contact the ED via their contact us page located here.
Fill out the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) action alert template. You can either mail this directly to the OMB (725 17th St NW, Washington, DC 20503) or look for an alternate way to contact the OMB via their web page located here.

By advocating for these funds, you are ensuring that the OMB and ED is held accountable to follow the law and ensure the disbursement of these impounded funds immediately. We thank you for your interest and encourage you to reach out to us if you have any questions. The more people that voice their concerns regarding these funds, the more pressure the ED will face to begin allocating these funds promptly.