This is press release from U.S. House Democrats deriding the GOP’s efforts to “kick 220,000 classroom teachers out of classrooms.” The full release lists additional cuts to the Department of Labor and the Department of Health and Human Services.

On Friday House Appropriations Committee Republicans released the draft fiscal year 2024 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies funding bill, which will be considered in subcommittee tomorrow. The legislation is an assault on education and job training, decimates research funding, and abandons ongoing public health crises.

For 2024, the bill provides $163.0 billion, a cut of $63.8 billion – 28 percent – below 2023. This year’s Republican allocation was the lowest for the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies bill since 2008. The legislation:

• Decimates support for children in K-12 elementary schools and early childhood education.
• Abandons college students and low-income workers trying to improve their lives through higher education or job training.
• Stifles lifesaving biomedical innovation by cutting funding for cancer research, mental health research, and neurological research, and by slashing funding for advanced research projects intended to develop new cures and therapies.
• Surrenders to ongoing public health crises in mental health, opioid use, HIV/AIDS, and health disparities.
• Harms women’s health by cutting programs that support maternal and child health, eliminating programs that provide access to health services and contraception, and adding numerous partisan and poison pill riders related to abortion and reproductive health.

“When 161 House Republicans voted earlier this year to eliminate all K-12 funding at the Department of Education, I was horrified, but that was just the beginning. Now, in the midst of a teacher shortage, they have introduced a bill that would kick 220,000 teachers from classrooms. We are witnessing a widespread attack on public education that should horrify all of us” Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) said. “Regardless of age or stage in life, this bill means you cannot count on government for any help.  It limits women’s access to abortion while stripping maternal health services and making diapers more expensive. It decimates access to preschool, education, and job training. People can only hope they do not get cancer or need mental health services—you will not find support from House Republicans. These awful cuts will make it very hard for people and should not even be considered by this committee.”

Key provisions included in the draft fiscal year 2024 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies bill are below. The text of the draft bill is here. The subcommittee markup will be webcast live and linked on the House Committee on Appropriations website.

The 2024 funding bill:

Department of Education (ED) – The bill includes a total of $57.1 billion in discretionary appropriations for ED, a cut of $22.5 billion – 28 percent – below the FY 2023 enacted level. Of this amount:

• The bill includes $3.7 billion for Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies, a cut of $14.7 billion below the FY 2023 enacted level. This cut could force a nationwide reduction of 220,000 teachers from classrooms serving low-income students.
• The bill eliminates funding for English Language Acquisition, a cut of $890 million that would remove vital academic support for 5 million English learners nationwide.
• The bill eliminates funding for Title II-A (Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants), a cut of $2.2 billion below the enacted level.
• The bill eliminates funding for Promise Neighborhoods, a cut of $91 million below the enacted level.
• The bill eliminates funding for Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) grants within the Education Innovation and Research program, a cut of $87 million below the enacted level.
• The bill eliminates funding for Magnet Schools, a cut of $139 million below the enacted level.
• The bill includes $100 million for Full-Service Community Schools, a cut of $50 million below the enacted level.
• The bill fails to provide an increase for the maximum Pell Grant award for the first time since 2012.
• The bill eliminates funding for Federal Work Study, a cut of $1.2 billion that would eliminate work-based assistance to 660,000 students nationwide
• The bill eliminates funding for Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, a cut of $910 million that would eliminate need-based financial aid for 1.7 million students nationwide
• The bill includes $1.8 billion for Student Aid Administration, a cut of $265 million below the enacted level.
• The bill eliminates funding for Teacher Quality Partnerships, a cut of $70 million below the enacted level.
• The bill eliminates funding for Child Care Access Means Parents in School, a cut of $75 million below the enacted level.
• The bill eliminates funding for Hawkins Centers of Excellence, a cut of $15 million below the enacted level.
• The bill eliminates funding for HBCU, TCU, and MSI Research and Development Infrastructure Grants, a cut of $50 million below the enacted level.
• The bill includes $105 million for the Office for Civil Rights, a cut of $35 million below the enacted level.