NAfME Calls on the U.S. Office of Management and Budget to Release Education Funds

NAfME Calls on the U.S. Office of Management and Budget to Release Education Funds

How Advocates Can Make a Difference

This week, NAfME joined a coalition of nonpartisan organizations representing millions of communities, school districts, educators, families, and learners in a letter urging U.S. Department of Education (ED) Secretary Linda E. McMahon and Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Richard Vought to immediately disburse legally obligated education funds to states. NAfME Assistant Executive Director for Advocacy and Public Policy Amanda Karhuse joined fellow members of the Committee for Education Funding on July 16, 2025, in meetings with U.S. legislative staff to advocate for federal education funding. (Read CEF letters to Congress and the administration here.)

We need all music and arts education supporters to amplify this call to action and share this with your fellow education advocates.

Schools and other education programs rely on federal funds to help make tight budgets work and to provide valuable programming for students and all learners. Normally, a large portion of federal funds are distributed on July 1, but this year on June 30, all state departments of education received notification that the U.S. Department of Education and the Office of Management and Budget had placed certain federal education programs under review and that the expected funds would not be released on July 1.

The following programs, which total more than $6 billion, have been impacted:

• Title I, C: State Agency Program – Migrant Education – $375.6 million
• Title II-A: Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants – $2.19 billion
• Title IV-A: Student Support and Academic Achievement Grants – $1.38 billion
• Title IV-B: 21st Century Community Learning Centers – $1.33 billion
• Title III: English Language Acquisition Grants – $890 million
• Adult Basic and Literacy Education Instruction – $629.6 million
• English Literacy and Civics Education State Grants – $85.9 million

To date, the Department has offered no rationale for these delays. As a result, educational institutions are being forced to lay off staff, cancel programs, and terminate contracts that will impact more than 95,000 schools, nearly 55 million K-12 students, and 1.2 million adult learners across the nation. Even if funds are released imminently, damage has already been done.

This is a critical time to share how federal funding is vital to ensuring students have access to a quality education. We hope that you will contact your Representative and Senators and ask them to reach out to the Department and OMB and urge the immediate release of these funds.

This campaign includes a template message for your letter to Congress, but we encourage you to personalize your message and share why YOU support these programs.

Email and call members of Congress here.

We will continue to provide updates and work to ensure that the policies shaping the future of education support and protect music educators and their students.

If you have questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out to advocacy@nafme.org. Together, we will keep music education strong.

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