K-12 Dive

The U.S. Department of Education is under pressure from K-12 and college groups, as well as a bipartisan group of U.S. senators, to release nearly $300 million in funding for education research. In a May 11 letter, a bipartisan group of 19 U.S. senators, including Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said the Education Department received $793 million in FY25 and $789.6 million in FY26 for IES activities and there was a remaining balance of about $290 million that would lapse Sept. 30. IES allocations can be used over a two-year period, the senators’ letter said. A lack of spending at IES has led to “the sharp decline of special education research and data gathering,” according to a statement from Merkley. The senators criticized what they said are the closeouts of hundreds of unreviewed IES FY25 grant proposals within the National Center for Education Research and the National Center for Special Education Research. “This resulted in no new awards being made over the past year, and these awards are crucial to addressing urgent educational challenges facing students,” the letter said.