Last week, we told you how bad the House majority’s extreme Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill is and how much damage it would do to schools.
To recap, the bill decimates the Title I program, eliminates funding to reduce class sizes, eliminates funding for the English Language Learner (ELL) program and educator professional development, and blocks meaningful reforms to federal student debt programs. But thanks to your quick advocacy, Republican leadership was not able to bring the bill to a vote in the full Appropriations Committee before the congressional recess.
The even better news is that the Senate is moving in a completely different, bipartisan direction. That bill strengthens investments—albeit with small increases—in families and education, and the Senate Appropriations Committee passed it last week by a 26-2 vote.
The same MAGA-led wing of the GOP is pushing a House Agriculture appropriations bill that would kick hundreds of thousands of families out of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and delay healthier guidelines for school meals. But, as with the education funding bill, it is so extreme that leadership could not bring it to the House floor for a vote.
In fact, while corporate profits have soared in the past decades, working families have lost ground—especially those earning the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.
People who work hard should not live in poverty. The Raise the Wage Act of 2023, introduced this week, would increase the federal minimum wage to $17 by 2028. The bill would not only lift wages; it would give working people the respect they deserve.
Increasing the federal minimum wage would benefit many education support professionals, such as school food service workers. Aside from better pay, these dedicated workers need more training for the preparation skills that healthier meals require. The Improving Training for School Food Service Workers Act, also introduced this week, would help make training available during paid working hours.
The time is now to make our voices heard!
In solidarity,
Marc Egan
Government Relations Director
National Education Association
The House majority is pushing an education funding bill that would hurt students, eliminate nearly 248,000 educator jobs, and cut access to higher education.
CHEER: Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) introduced a bill to stop universities from giving preferential treatment to children of alumni and children of donors and to help ensure equity in the admissions process.
CHEER: Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) and Reps. Alma Adams (D-NC) and Greg Casar (D-TX) introduced the Food Secure Strikers Act of 2023, which would allow striking workers and their households to receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, repealing the restriction that prohibits striking workers from receiving SNAP.
CHEER: Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) and Reps. Mark Pocan (D-WI) and Elise Stefanik (R-NY) re-introduced the Improving Training for School Food Service Workers Act to ensure training occurs during paid working hours.
CHEER: Democratic Reps. Becca Balint (VT), Cori Bush (MO), Troy Carter (LA), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL), Rashida Tlaib (MI), Jamaal Bowman (NY), Jill Tokuda (HI), and Morgan McGarvey (KY), all members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, made floor speeches noting their support for educators, students, and public schools before Congress began its August recess.
