Last week, LEARN, led the effort to send two letters to the House Rules and Appropriations Committees, respectively, in opposition to drastic cuts in research funding. As part of the House Consideration of eight of the 12 appropriations bills, an amendment by Rep. Francis Rooney (R-FL) was made in order that would cut overall IES funding by $195 million. This letter comes in response to Rep. Rooney’s amendment.
The letter read, in part, “We urge your leadership in opposing this amendment to maintain the level of funding in the bill for IES initiatives…. We have seen firsthand the impact that IES funding has had in producing the knowledge needed to enable our students to succeed academically. Adoption of this amendment will fundamentally damage the research structure and erode funding that IES grantees use to provide critical and proven research. A robust and sustained investment in education research and development is crucial to ensure continued progress on improving teaching and learning.”
The full letters can be accessed here: 1) LEARN Rooney Amend Letter to Rules 2) LEARN Rooney Amend letter to Appropriators