President Trump Releases FY19 Budget Request

By Deborah Koolbeck

On February 12, President Trump released his Fiscal Year 2019 (FY19) budget request to fund the federal government. Similar to the previous request, this plan cuts 29 education programs while carving out space and funds for new programs focusing on choice opportunities.

In a press release from the U.S. Department of Education, Secretary Betsy DeVos lauded the request for “expanding education freedom for America’s families while protecting vulnerable students.”

According to the Department’s fact sheet, the president’s education budget features six major themes:

• Providing better choices for more families to attend a high-quality school.
• Supporting high-quality special education services to children with disabilities.
• Creating new and alternative pathways to successful careers for students.
• Promoting innovation and reform around STEM education.
• Implementing school-based opioid abuse prevention strategies.
• Making the Department more efficient while limiting the Federal role in education.

The budget request eliminates 29 programs—seven more than in the FY18 proposal—for an annual savings of $5.9 billion. Remember, however, that this request from the president to the Congress is the first step in the budget process; Congress then responds to the request through the appropriations process. It is also important to note that many of the programs proposed for elimination have strong support on Capitol Hill.

The president’s budget request was released 72 hours after a budget deal was reached and signed into law, leading to some programs receiving additional funding in the FY19 request. Impact Aid Basic Support Payments, TRIO, School Choice, and Federal Work Study received additional funds and the rescission to the Pell program reserve was restored. This is reflected in addendum documents.

Key Education Programs in FY19 Budget Request

For further detail, see these links from the U.S. Department of Education:

• FY19 Budget Request Main Page
• Fact Sheet
• Summary and Background Information
• Budget Justifications for U.S. Congress (recommended resource with detailed information, data, and rationales)
• Budget Table

As Congress responds through the appropriations process, AACTE will be engaging membership through our Action Alerts and at Day on the Hill in June to support you in advocacy with your elected officials.

Please contact me with any questions at dkoolbeck@aacte.org.

Tags: federal issues, funding

Deborah Koolbeck

Senior Director of Government Relations, AACTE