As we alluded to the recent digest, we wanted to follow up with an update on the markup on federal education funding for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018.

Yesterday, the House Labor-HHS-Education appropriations subcommittee passed their FY 2018 spending bill, which includes a $10 million increase for GEAR UP. The bill is expected to be voted on by the full House appropriations committee next week, then will be taken up by the full House of Representatives at a much later date. The Senate has not announced their appropriations schedule.

While this is a very early step in what will be a long and challenging appropriations process, the fact that the House subcommittee rejected the White House’s proposal to cut GEAR UP funding by $120 million is a testament to the remarkable work you do with students and families, and of course, your willingness to mobilize in defense of GEAR UP.

In light of the very deep cuts that the subcommittee made to overall U.S. Department of Education funding, to witness the subcommittee propose funding GEAR UP at an all-time high of $350 million is evidence of the power of our movement. Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) specifically noted GEAR UP verbally in the markup and Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) named GEAR UP as one of the “bright spots” in a bill that Democrats were unified against. We’ll address the size and scope of the proposed cuts to federal education programs in a future GEAR UP Weekly Digest.

As we all prepare for next week’s GEAR UP Annual Conference, I hope this good news will brighten your day as it did for us. We’ll certainly have more to share when we get together in person, but for now, know that we deeply appreciate your continued advocacy for GEAR UP and look forward to the work ahead.

Together We Rise!