As we shared on our social media channels yesterday, the White House released their proposed FY 2019 budget, which calls for the elimination of GEAR UP. I’d like to address three topics in this communication: (1) what the White House budget is proposing; (2) our forecast on how Congress will react to the proposal; and (3) some early thoughts on our next steps. While we were all away at the Capacity-Building Workshop, there were many government relations developments that we’ll tackle in more detail in tomorrow’s GEAR UP Digest.

Making Sense of the FY 2019 Proposal

While the U.S. Department of Education (ED) described the White House’s proposed budget as a blueprint that “expands education freedom,” and “protects vulnerable students,” the numbers themselves reveal the contrary. The budget proposal—if enacted—would dismantle the fragile infrastructure that is in place for students, families, and the educators that support them. Overall, ED would see an overall budget cut of 5.4% (or $3.6 billion) from FY 2017, the elimination of 29 programs, and the consolidation of 10 programs. The scope and depth of these cuts span all aspects of K12 and higher education, with the burden felt most by the low-income students and families that we serve.

As it pertains to GEAR UP, the White House is proposing eliminating the program beginning in FY 2019. The budget proposal calls for consolidating GEAR UP and the TRIO programs into a formula grant program for states. In this approach, ED suggests that states would receive their allocation based on historical funding patterns and the relative share of the population who live at or below 150% of the poverty line. At yesterday’s budget briefing, ED shared that while their intentions are known via the budget proposal, the corresponding legislative proposal is in development and will be made public sometime later this spring. While the proposed budget speaks to a transitional period, what it does not make transparent is that the state formula program is likely to be substantially smaller than what states currently receive through GEAR UP and TRIO.

A Reality Check on the FY 2019 Proposal

While our entire community should be deeply outraged by this proposal, I did not want to let the moment pass without reminding you that the future of the GEAR UP program is in our hands. The White House’s proposal is merely that—a proposal. It is up to the Congress to determine the FY 2019 allocation for GEAR UP and we urge you to work with us to ensure that Congress rejects the White House’s efforts.

If you are new to GEAR UP, you should absolutely know that the White House’s budget proposal is a largely political document, and is rarely enacted as is. To help illustrate that point, the following graph shows how rarely the White House’s request—regardless of who’s in office—aligns with reality.

The bottom line is that Congress routinely rejects the White House’s proposals, but it is our responsibility to ensure that each and every member of Congress truly understands, appreciates, and values the GEAR UP program. As you recall, we succeeded in defending GEAR UP last year, and we’ll need a national effort to do so again this year.

Another key fact to keep in mind is that Congress recently completed a two-year budget deal that increases the overall spending caps for non-defense discretionary funding by $128 billion dollars over the next two years. As a result, Congressional appropriations will actually have more resources than previously anticipated for FY 2018 and FY 2019.

While each of us should be very concerned about the administration’s intentions, I want to make it very clear that we are not merely seeking a defense of GEAR UP, but rather, we’ll be pushing hard for a substantial funding increase for GEAR UP.

As you can imagine, we spent much of yesterday checking in with key Congressional offices and the response we received was favorable—if we all do our part, I am confident that we will prevail.

Looking Ahead

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be asking a lot of you. Between finalizing the 2018 appropriations, the threat of the 2019 budget proposal, and GEAR UP reauthorization, we’ll be urging you to join us in engaging your elected officials to help advance our community’s agenda. As always, we’ll be providing you with contact information, call scripts, email templates and other resources. I know this is a very busy time for you, but this work is simply too important to ignore.

In the meantime, please begin discussing the urgent need to play a strong advocacy role with your colleagues, institutional leaders, and GEAR UP partners. We’ll be sharing more analysis in tomorrow’s GEAR UP Digest, but our core message is a simple one: together we rise. If you and each of your colleagues take action, we will overcome this threat and ensure that the students and families we serve continue to benefit from your extraordinary work.