by Dr. Watson Scott Swail, President & Senior Research Scientist

This morning a new jobs report showed a sluggish economy by way of the lowest addition of jobs in recent memory which is tied to an increase in unemployment rates.

This comes during a week where concerning news came out of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS), which passed their proposed spending bill this week that would cut discretionary education funding by 15 percent ($12.1 billion). The bill passed through the subcommittee on a party-line vote (11-7) and now has to pass the LHHS Full Committee. If it does that (it likely will), The House and Senate bills will have to fight it off. This will be interesting given that the Senate committee kept funding levels at the same levels of last year.

The across-board cuts are important because they will reduce support for many Americans which will cause certain turmoil and likely have a further negative impact on the economy and employment.

Here is a brief summary of how particular parts of education, labor, and other programs are impacted across various federal agencies via this budget.

Elementary and Secondary Programs

• Reduction in Title I grants to LEAs by $4.7 billion, essentially eliminating Full-Service Community Schools ($150 million), Promise Neighborhoods, and the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) program. This program supports the more than 1 in 5 students who are parenting while enrolled in school. 
• Reduction in Title II funding by $2.2 billion (Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants) and some after school programs.
• Eliminates the Preschool Development Grant program ($315 million).
• Eliminates the English Language Acquisition program ($890 million).
• The bill keeps funding for special education, 21^st CCLCs, Student Support and Academic Enrichment State Grants level, and Head Start.

Postsecondary Education

• Eliminates the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) program, which provides financial aid to low-income students ($910 million). 
• Eliminates the Teacher Quality Partnership program ($70 million).
• Eliminates the Child Care Access Means Parents in School program ($75 million).
• Eliminates the International Education and Foreign Language program ($86 million; note: The Educational Policy Institute has evaluated this program for USDE in the past).
• A 33 percent reduction in funding for Career, Technical, and Adults Education, almost all through the elimination of Adult Education funding ($729 million).
• A 37 percent cut in Federal Work Study (FWS) funding ($451 million), increasing debt burdens for working students. 
• A 33 percent cut for the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights ($49 million). 
• Keeps level the current maximum Pell Grant award of $7,395, but includes no inflation adjustment, meaning the award will lose value year-over-year. 
• Keeps level funding for TRIO and GEAR UP programs.
• Blocks the Education Department from implementing Biden-era regulations related to institutional accountability (the borrower defense to repayment, financial value transparency, gainful employment, and 90/10 rules), student loan repayment, and Title IX. 

Workforce

• A decrease of 35 percent in the Employment and Training Administration, or $3.6 billion, which would cut the Workforce Innovation and Oopportunity Act State Grants by 63 percent ($1.8 billion).
• Eliminate the WIOA Adult Job Training program ($886 million) and the WIOA Youth Job Training program ($948 billion).
• Eliminate funding for the Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) ($116 million).
• Eliminate the Women’s Bureau ($23 million).
• Decrease Jobs Corps by $880 million (50 percent).
• A 14 percent cut for the Worker Protection Agencies ($259 million), including eliminated compliance programs.

Health and Welfare

• Eliminates the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program ($108 million).
• Eliminates the Title X Family Planning program ($286 million).
• Elimination of Nursing Workforce Diversity ($24 million) and the Nursing Faculty Loan Program ($29 million).
• Eliminates of the Healthy Start program (145 million), a Bush II presidential program aimed at reducing maternal and infant mortality.
• Reduce funding for the Office of Minority Health by two thirds ($30 million) and the Minority HIV/AIDS Initiatve ($35 million, or 58 percent).
• Reduce funding for the Office of Women’s Health by almost half ($14 million).
• A 49 percent cut in the Corporation for National and Community Service, which includes AmeriCorps (50 percent cut to $279 million).