Once again, your advocacy paved the way to victory.

Bowing to pressure from people like you and members of Congress from both sides of the aisle, the Trump administration announced on July 25 that it is releasing $5.5 billion in FY2025 education funding—on top of $1.3 billion released on July 18—for a total of nearly $7 billion.

More than $2 billion of the money is earmarked for teacher training and recruitment.

“Sadly, this is part of a broader pattern by this administration of undermining public education—starving it of resources, sowing distrust, and pushing privatization at the expense of the nation’s most vulnerable students,” said NEA President Becky Pringle.

“And they are doing this at the same time Congress has passed a budget bill that will devastate our students, schools, and communities by slashing funds meant for public education, health care, and keeping students from their school meals—all to finance massive tax breaks for billionaires.”

In the coming days, your advocacy will be needed more than ever.

Last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee marked up the FY2026 education funding bill. We urged committee members to oppose the Trump administration’s proposal to cut education funding another 15% and replace existing programs with block grants.

The bill passed by the committee rejects many of the elements of the President’s budget request. It funds some programs for which funding was temporarily withheld—among them, after-school initiatives and English acquisition—and does not zero out TRIO programs, slash Pell grants, or eliminate preschool grants as the administration requested. Overall, most education programs received near-level or level funding over last year. Funding programs for both our low-income students and students with disabilities even received small increases. Importantly, the bill does not include any language to codify the President’s proposals to create a massive K-12 block grant or alter Title I and IDEA.

Congress is taking a break in August, and so are we. When Congress returns in September, the appropriations process will be a major focus in the House, which has not released any numbers for its proposed educating funding bill. Tell your senators and representative what you think!

In solidarity,