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# Statement by Miguel Cardona Secretary of Education on the U.S. Department of Education Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Request 

# Statement by Miguel Cardona Secretary of Education on the U.S. Department of Education Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Request 

May 4, 2022

**Contact:  **press@ed.gov

                                    -        
Good morning, Chairwoman DeLauro and Ranking Member Cole.

I am pleased to join you today, and I am proud to testify on behalf of President  Biden’s fiscal year 2023 Budget Request for the Department of Education. This  request reflects President Biden’s deep belief in the importance of education and the success and well-being of our nation’s students. It’s my hope that  Congress answers the President’s call for increased investments at the Federal  level that will help our schools continue to recover from the COVID19 pandemic, address long-standing inequities that have existed in our school systems, and  elevate our country’s education system to lead the world. Our task is to reimagine and strengthen our entire system of education, from pre-kindergarten  through adult education. As we recover from the crisis, let’s focus on the  opportunities to do just that.

Last summer traveling in Michigan, I met a woman named Ruth who is a middle-aged woman working just to make ends meet. She had a health issue that forced her to  go to the hospital during the pandemic, which opened her eyes to a future in  the healthcare field. As she told me, "After seeing what our country is  going through, I want to live the rest of my life helping others who are going  through health issues." Using a Pell Grant, she is returning to school to  be a nurse practitioner. My point is that it is never too late to go back to  school, and it’s never too late the seize the opportunities ahead and we can  make it easier for learners of all ages like Ruth to reignite their passions  and discover new ones. 

FY 2022  CONGRESSIONAL ACTION

I  want to begin by thanking the Members of the Subcommittee—and your staff—who  worked so hard to provide a fiscal year 2022 appropriations bill. That  bipartisan funding 2 package delivers for our students and families by making  essential investments in our schools and building on a cornerstone of the  Biden-Harris Administration—keeping equity at the center of all we do. This  bill includes an important commitment, shared by President Biden, to  significantly increase funding for the Title I program by providing $17.5  billion in funding, a $1 billion increase. This is the largest increase for  Title I in over a decade and an important first step that we look forward to  working with you to build upon. The bipartisan package makes important strides  to meet the needs of the whole child, to support effective teaching and  learning, and to strengthen and diversify the educator pipeline. The 2022  appropriations bill also makes college more affordable by increasing the  maximum Pell Grant by $400, which is a down payment on the President’s call to  double Pell and will help more students pursue an education or training beyond  high school. The President’s 2023 Budget Request builds upon this legislation  by increasing investments in our schools with high-poverty rates; helping meet  the needs of students with disabilities and multilingual learners; and  expanding access to postsecondary education and increasing college completion.  There is one technical detail that I would like the members of this Subcommittee  to keep in mind when reviewing our fiscal year 2023 Budget Request. Due to the  timing of the passage of the FY 2022 appropriations legislation, the baseline  for our fiscal year 2023 request levels was the fiscal year 2021 enacted level  and does not reflect final fiscal year 2022 appropriations action. A comparison  of our request with actual fiscal year 2022 levels could suggest that we are  proposing a number of decreases for fiscal year 2023, when that is not the  case. On the contrary, our goal is to maintain and build on these critical  investments. The Administration is excited about the support of Congress and  the many increases provided to Department of Education funding in FY 2022. We  look forward to working with Congress to provide technical assistance during  upcoming FY 2023 appropriations action. The numbers I will be citing in my  testimony today will mostly reflect differences between the fiscal year 2022  appropriation and our request.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION FUNDING LEVELS

The  President’s fiscal year 2023 request calls for a significant increase in  Federal support for education from birth through college and career. The proposed discretionary request is $88.3 billion for Department of Education programs, an increase of almost $12 billion over the fiscal year 2022 enacted level. The 2023 Budget would make historic investments in the Nation’s future prosperity by prioritizing funding for five core themes that are at the heart  of this Administration’s vision for education in America: 1) Supporting  Students Through Pandemic Response and Recovery Over the Long Term; 2) Boldly  Addressing Opportunity and Achievement Gaps; 3) Supporting a Talented and  Diverse Educator Workforce; 4) Making Higher Education Inclusive and Affordable; and 5) Building Pathways Through Postsecondary Education that Lead  to Successful Careers. 

SUPPORTING  STUDENTS THROUGH PANDEMIC RESPONSE AND RECOVERY

Even  with 99 percent of schools open for full-time, in-person learning, many  students continue to be affected by the pandemic. We know that in our  communities most impacted by COVID, their recovery could take many years.  Disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic continue to take a toll on the  academic success, and physical, social, emotional, and mental health of  students. It has also taken a toll on the well-being of our educators and  school staff. Responding to these needs can often be a challenge for many schools. For example, there continues to be a critical gap, that existed prior to and was only made worse by the pandemic, between the number of school-based health service providers needed and the number of such providers currently serving in our schools, particularly in school districts and schools with high rates of poverty. This is why the Budget includes a $1 billion investment to  bridge that gap through the School-Based Health Professionals program, both by  building the pipeline of such professionals and by providing the dedicated  funding needed to hire them. We appreciate the additional $90 million Congress  provided to support similar activities in the FY 2022 legislation, and we are committed to building on this investment as more is still needed. The  Administration estimates that our requested funding, together with State and local matching funds, would allow LEAs to hire an additional 21,000 school counselors, nurses, social workers, and school psychologists. 

Our  request further supports students through pandemic response and recovery by  including $468 million to dramatically expand the Full-Service Community  Schools (FSCS) program. A 2020 study from the Rand Corporation, Illustrating  the Promise of Community Schools: An Assessment of the Impact of the New York  City Community Schools Initiative, found that community schools in New York  City had a positive impact on student attendance, on-time grade progression, high school graduation rates, disciplinary incidents for elementary and middle school students, math achievement, credit accumulation for high school  students, shared responsibility for student success at elementary and middle  schools, and students’ sense of connectedness to adults and peers for elementary and middle school students. Additional studies have found similar  outcomes for evidence-based approaches to Full-Service Community Schools. Our request would allow the Full-Service Community Schools program to create an  estimated 800 new community schools serving up to 2.4 million additional  students, family members, and community members in districts that want to  advance this approach. 

For  districts that may not have the capacity to implement the broader community  schools approach supported by FSCS, this request also includes $25 million for  the provision of integrated student supports (ISS), one of the pillars of  evidence-based approaches to community schools. ISS grants would help provide  access to services that meet the social, emotional, mental and physical health,  and academic needs of students and families through cross-agency efforts and  partnerships between districts and with community-based organizations. 

BOLDLY ADDRESSING  OPPORTUNITY AND ACHIEVEMENT GAPS

Even  before the pandemic, too many elementary and secondary school students faced  daunting barriers to receiving a high-quality education. This budget seeks to remove those barriers by providing the resources needed so that every student  can be successful. Core to that effort is Title I, which helps schools provide  students from low-income communities the learning opportunities and supports  they need to succeed. This budget boosts funding for Title I by $19 billion  over fiscal year 2022 through a mix of discretionary and mandatory funding.  This substantial new support for the program, which serves 25 million students  in nearly 90 percent of school districts across the Nation, would be a major  step toward fulfilling the President’s commitment to addressing long-standing  funding disparities between under-resourced schools – which disproportionately  serve students of color – and their wealthier counterparts. The Budget also  includes a first-time $30 million investment to improve education and outcomes  for children and youth in foster care, one of our most vulnerable populations.

The  President and I are committed to ensuring that children and youth with  disabilities receive the services and support they need to thrive in school and  graduate ready for college and career. I am very excited that our request  provides an additional $3.3 billion over 2021 enacted levels – which would be  the largest two-year increase ever outside of the American Rescue Plan – for  Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Grants to States, with a  total of $16.3 billion to support special education and related services for  students in grades Pre-K through 12. The Budget also nearly doubles funding to  $932 million for IDEA Part C grants, which support early intervention services for infants and families with disabilities that have a proven record of improving academic and developmental outcomes. The increased funding would support States in implementing critical reforms to expand their enrollment of underserved children, including children of color, children from low-income  backgrounds and children living in rural areas. The increase for Part C  includes $200 million to expand and streamline enrollment of children at risk of developing disabilities, which would help mitigate the need for more extensive services later 6 in childhood and further expand access to the  program for underserved children. In addition, our request includes a sizeable increase for the Preschool Grants program. More than 80 percent of children participating in the Preschool Grants program have demonstrated significant improvement in academic, behavioral and social and emotional outcomes, which is  consistent with numerous studies that have found that the provision of special education and related services for preschool-aged children significantly improved outcomes in these areas. 

Recent results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress continue to show  significant achievement gaps remain between English Learners and their peers.  This is directly tied to the educational opportunities and resources that are  available to support their success. These barriers to a high-quality education  are especially pressing, as many states and school districts have experienced  an increase in arrivals of immigrant children, including refugees from  countries impacted by war. Accordingly, this Budget includes a significant  increase of $244 million to the English Language Acquisition grants program, for  a total fiscal year 2023 funding level of $1.1 billion. Further, the increased  investment proposed for fiscal year 2023 would greatly strengthen the  Department’s capacity to work with its State and local partners to elevate  meeting the needs of English learners in the context of encouraging  multilingualism as a necessary skill for success in our globally competitive  economy.

SUPPORTING A  TALENTED AND DIVERSE EDUCATOR WORKFORCE

The  Administration is committed to not only honoring educators but making sure they  are treated with the respect and the dignity they deserve. In addition to promoting supportive working conditions and welcoming educators’ voices as  critical partners to improve education, we must make sure education jobs are  ones that people from all backgrounds want to pursue. 

For  decades, the education sector has faced shortages in critical staffing areas,  such as special education and bilingual education, disproportionately impacting  students of color and students from low-income backgrounds. The COVID-19  pandemic and tight labor market have 7 made shortages worse. These shortages  negatively impact the education students receive and continue to fall hardest  on students in underserved communities. For example, teacher shortages in areas  such as STEM, Career and Technical Education, and advanced placement and dual  enrollment/early college programs can result in these high-quality pathways and  opportunities being out of reach for students. In addition to comprehensive  investments across several programs to support a diverse and well-prepared  pipeline of educators, the Budget includes $514 million for the Education  Innovation and Research program, including $350 million focused on identifying  and scaling models that improve recruitment and retention of staff in  education. These funds would support innovative efforts to improve resources  and support for educators, provide teacher access to leadership opportunities  that improve teacher recruitment and retention, and expand the impact of great  teachers within and beyond their classrooms.

Other  key investments include $132 million for Teacher Quality Partnership grants to  effectively prepare aspiring teachers by supporting pathways into the  profession such as highquality teacher residencies and Grow Your Own programs, that improve educator diversity, effectiveness, and retention; $250 million for IDEA, Part D, to support the pipeline of special education teachers and  personnel; and $20 million for Augustus Hawkins Centers of Excellence to support teacher preparation programs at Historically Black Colleges and  Universities (HBCUs), Tribally-Controlled College and Universities (TCCUs), and  minority-serving institutions (MSIs). We are incredibly appreciative that  fiscal year 2022 appropriations provided first time funding for the Augustus Hawkins program to support teacher preparation programs at these institutions. Recognizing that school leaders are second only to classroom teachers among  school factors that affect student learning, our request includes $40 million  in funding for the reauthorized School Leader Recruitment and Support program  to improve the recruitment, preparation, placement, support, and retention of  effective principals and other school leaders in underserved schools.

MAKING HIGHER EDUCATION  INCLUSIVE AND AFFORDABLE

Too  many students today are deciding that a postsecondary education is out of  reach. That is unacceptable. To make higher education more inclusive and  affordable, the Budget increases the maximum Pell Grant by $1,775 over the 2022-2023 award year through a mix of discretionary and mandatory funding,  helping an estimated 6.7 million students from low- and middle-income  backgrounds overcome financial barriers. This historic increase is one piece of  the Budget’s comprehensive proposal to double the maximum Pell Grant by 2029.  The Administration continues to support expanding federal student aid,  including Pell Grant eligibility, to students who are Deferred Action for  Childhood recipients – commonly known as DREAMers – and we are committed to  working with Congress to advance this goal.

Any  approach we take to postsecondary education must put students and families  first. Too many people currently see our student aid delivery system as broken,  with a few, but notable, bad actors taking advantage of students looking to get  ahead and student aid systems that have not kept pace with today’s demands. Our  request will improve the services we provide students and families to help them  pay for college through a historic investment in Student Aid Administration. We  are requesting $2.65 billion to administer the Federal student aid programs in  fiscal year 2023, an increase of $620 million over fiscal year 2022 enacted.  Specifically, the increase will allow us to implement customer service and  accountability improvements to student loan servicing and ensure the successful  transition from the current short-term loan servicing contracts to a more  stable long-term servicing environment. The increase is also critical to ensure  full implementation of the FAFSA® Simplification Act for the 2024–25 award  year.

Of  course, access to higher education is just one piece of the puzzle. It is also  critical to help students obtain the support they need to be successful, and to  provide institutions with resources to ensure their students’ success. Just as  so many students do not seek education beyond high school, too many start but  don’t complete their postsecondary degree or 9 certification. The President and  I are committed to not only ensuring an education beyond high school is  accessible and affordable, but that students are provided equitable access to  resources and supports to persist and complete. The Budget supports strategies  to improve the retention, transfer, and completion rates of students by  creating a Retention and Completion Grant program in the Fund for the  Improvement of Postsecondary Education. The Budget also promotes academic  success by providing critical resources to support students’ basic needs, including a $30 million increase to institutions providing affordable child care  for student parents with lowincomes. The request includes significant increases  for Federal TRIO programs and GEAR UP to expand services that promote access  and completion in postsecondary education for underserved individuals. The  Budget would also enhance institutional capacity at HBCUs, TCCUs, MSIs, and  low-resourced institutions, including community colleges, by providing an  increase of $703 million over the 2022 enacted level. This funding includes a  $450 million initiative to expand research and development infrastructure at  four-year HBCUs, TCCUs, and MSIs. 

BUILDING PATHWAYS  THROUGH POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION THAT LEAD TO SUCCESSFUL CAREERS

While  increased funding for student aid and higher education is vitally important,  the key to access and affordability really begins before any student applies to  college. It begins in high school and even earlier. This is why the President’s  Request would help create stronger college and career pathways between our  Pre-k through grade 12 systems, our two- and four-year colleges and  universities, and our workforce partners. We are requesting $200 million for a  new Career-Connected High Schools Initiative within Career and Technical  Education National Programs, to provide competitive grants that support  partnerships between local educational agencies, institutions of higher  education (including community colleges), and employers to support early  enrollment in postsecondary and career-connected coursework; work-based  learning opportunities; and academic and career-connected instruction across  the last two years 10 of high school and the first two years of postsecondary  education. Our request also supports adult learners through a College Bridge  Initiative, funded through Adult Education National Leadership Activities, and  new grants to support disconnected youth without a high school diploma.

ENFORCEMENT OF  CIVIL RIGHTS LAWS

Finally,  we would prioritize efforts to enforce the Nation’s civil rights laws, as they relate to education, through a 19 percent increase for the Office for Civil  Rights to protect students, providing a total of $161 million to advance equity in educational opportunity and delivery at Pre-K through 12 schools and at  institutions of higher education. CLOSING REMARKS This is our moment to truly reimagine  education so that all students can succeed. Thank you again for this  opportunity to share more about the President’s plan to invest in students of all ages—like Ruth from Michigan—and the schools and institutions that serve  them. As I and the President have said before, our budget is a reflection of  our values and I look forward to working with you to advance this historic  budget request. I am committed to learning more about your individual interests  and priorities related to Department of Education programs and activities and  working collaboratively with each of you, to the greatest extent possible, to  help improve educational opportunities and outcomes for all students. Thank  you, and I will do my best to respond to any questions you may have.
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