The U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee was scheduled to hold a markup of its FY27 education spending bill on June 5 with a full committee vote expected the week of June 9.

The committee isn’t sharing any information at this point, but we anticipate that the spending levels will look similar to FY26’s education funding bill.

That bill rejected the White House’s proposed block grant program and cuts to Title IV-A and Title IV-B. However, it did include a nearly $5 billion cut to Title I and the elimination of the Title II and Title III programs.

NAESP issued an Action Alert to NAESP members who are constituents of Senate and House Appropriations Committee members, encouraging them to support federal preK-12 funding during the appropriations process.

July 1 funding disbursement Federal education formula funding for the upcoming school year will be distributed on July 1 through the Department of Education’s existing grants management system and not through the Department of Labor system, as administration officials wanted.

This is a significant relief as there were major concerns that using a different, untested platform that needed to connect with state department of education systems could create technical issues that would cause delays in funding. As we saw last year, the delay in funding for Title II, Title IV-A, and Title IV-B caused widespread problems for schools. A delay in Title I funding would be even more problematic.

However, questions remain about which grant system will be used for the second round of 2026-27 school year funding that goes out on October 1.

Future of the Dept. of Education Many of the recent changes affecting the Department of Education have been implemented through executive action and can be reversed by future administrations. The department was created by Congress and cannot be eliminated without congressional action. Maintaining the department’s existence preserves the ability for future presidential administrations and Congresses to restore programs, staffing, and responsibilities if they choose to do so.

State flexibility waivers U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon approved a waiver allowing Louisiana to consolidate its state-level formula grant funding it receives under the Every Student Succeeds Act — except for Title I funds.

Louisiana became the second state, after Iowa, to receive approval for a state flexibility waiver, and additional requests from states are expected to follow.

Federal education funds are typically accompanied by specific requirements and allowable uses at both the state and local levels. For example, Title II funds are intended to support the recruitment, retention, and development of educators and school leaders.

Under the waiver, states have greater flexibility to combine their eligible funding streams at the state level and direct resources toward activities that align with the purposes of the consolidated programs.