Before midnight on September 30th, Congress must pass a stopgap funding bill—called a continuing resolution (CR)—or the government will start shutting down. From experience, we know what that means.
The economy will take a big hit—the last shutdown, in 2019, cost $11 billion. No paychecks for millions of federal employees, including educators in Department of Defense schools represented by the Federal Education Association, an NEA affiliate. College-bound students won’t be able to get the information they need to apply for financial aid. Collection of essential data will stop—on everything from healthcare to inflation.
Every single member of Congress knows that to avoid driving the country over this cliff, Republicans and Democrats must reach an agreement similar to the bipartisan debt-limit compromise enacted in June. Yet, House GOP leadership continues to pretend otherwise, striving instead to placate far-right extremists bent on creating chaos to score political points.
Against this disturbing background, NEA leaders and staff this week participated in the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s annual legislative conference, where a key theme was protecting our democracy, and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s annual leadership conference.
In addition, NEA’s Board of Directors met face-to-face with lawmakers and their staffs to advocate for responsible education funding, advancing the Equality Act, and repealing the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) that deprive 2.5 million educators and other public employees of Social Security benefits they have earned.
The more of us who weigh in, the better. Email your members of Congress today!
In solidarity,
Marc Egan
Government Relations Director
National Education Association
College would become even less affordable and meaningful reform of student debt relief programs impossible under the House GOP’s proposed education budget.
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: Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL) reintroduced the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (H.R. 14) to protect the right to vote and safeguard our democracy by restoring the full protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
CHEER: Sens. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Tim Kaine (D-VA), and Thom Tillis (R-NC) introduced the bipartisan Success for Military Connected Students Act (S. 2755) to continue current student-to-teacher ratios in schools operated by the Department of Defense Education Authority.
CHEER: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) reintroduced the Schedules That Work Act (S. 2851/H.R. 5563) and the Part-Time Worker Bill of Rights Act (S. 2850/H.R. 5578) to extend vital protections to workers in low-paid and part-time jobs, including many education support professionals.
