JNCL-NCLIS Analysis of FY23 Senate Appropriations for Language Education Programs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WASHINGTON, D.C., July 28th, 2022 - On Thursday, July 28, the Senate Appropriations Committee released drafts of all twelve of its FY23 appropriations bills, none of which have been or likely will be marked up in the regular order of the Senate Committee process. By contrast, the House has marked up all twelve appropriations bills and passed six of them on the floor. The House’s Labor Health and Human Services (HHS) Education bill, though, is not among those that have been approved and it appears increasingly likely that will not occur – if at all – until September.
As expected, the Senate’s education numbers were largely less generous than those found in the House’s version. Overall, the Department of Education would receive $87.93 billion, which represents a $7.2 billion increase over FY22’s funding level but is about $2.7 billion less than the House’s bill. Nearly all K-12 programs also saw less money in the Senate’s bill than they did in the House bill. Most prominently, Title I received a sizable $2.6 billion increase over FY22 in the Senate’s bill, but still comes in $400 million below the House’s figure and well short of President Biden’s request for a nearly $20 billion increase. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) lost nearly $1 billion between the Senate and the House. The other major Title programs -- Title III (+$123 million), Impact Aid (+$53 million), Title IV-A (+$65 million), and CTE Grants (+$13 million) – all would receive decent increases in the Senate bill but incrementally less than in the House bill. The only real winners in the Senate compared to the House were the Charter School Program, which saw the restoration of the $40 million cut by the House, and Career and Technical Education Grants (CTE), which received a $15 million bump.
For language education, the news is relatively good. As noted above, Title III would not see quite as large of an increase in the Senate bill as in the House bill, with ESSA’s Titles II and IV and HEA’s Title VI sharing the same fate. There were some bright spots, though. Native Hawaiian Education would receive $13 million more under the Senate version than it received in the House. Additionally, Native American Language Resource Centers received an additional $1 million in the Senate, less than it received in the House but still a strong bicameral showing for a program that has never been authorized. The Senate’s Legislative Report also contained very specific language regarding Native American Languages Resources Centers:
“The Committee recognizes the importance of supporting the revitalization of Native American languages, including by encouraging and supporting the use of Native American languages as a medium of instruction. In addition, the Committee recognizes the need to encourage and support elementary schools, secondary schools, and institutions of higher education to include Native American languages in the curriculum in the same manner as other world languages, including through cooperative agreements and distance education, and to grant proficiency in Native American languages the same full academic credit as proficiency in other world languages. To that end, the Committee provides not less than $1,000,000 to continue precursor activities and establish Native American Language Resource Centers, as the Department implements direction included in the explanatory statement accompanying the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022. The Committee directs the Office of Indian Education to consult with the Office of English Language Acquisition [OELA] on the development, implementation and support of the Centers. The Committee notes that OELA has decades of experience managing language acquisition programs, multilingual learning, and dual language immersion education, and directs the Department to leverage this valuable expertise to ensure the Centers have the capacity and resources to address the challenges of schools and programs engaged in Native American language reclamation, revitalization, preservation, and instruction.”
Senator Schatz’s effort to earmark $1 million for a Seal of Biliteracy pilot does not seem to have come to fruition as it is not listed in the Congressionally Directed Spending list.
Finally, it is still unclear how much the World Language Advancement and Readiness Grants Program (WLARA) received in the Senate’s FY23 Defense bill. It appears to be listed at $10 million but that may be $10 million on top of $15 million. Representative Price’s office is investigating for clarity.
Below is a list of key K-12 program funding levels:
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Established in 1972, the Joint National Committee for Languages (JNCL) and the National Council for Languages and International Studies (NCLIS) unites a national network of leading organizations and businesses comprised of over 300,000 language professionals to advocate for equitable language learning opportunities. Our mission is to ensure that Americans have the opportunity to learn English and at least one other language.
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