Blog

Your Education Road Map

Politics K-12®

Politics K-12 kept watch on education policy and politics in the nation’s capital and in the states. This blog is no longer being updated, but you can continue to explore these issues on edweek.org by visiting our related topic pages: Federal, States.

Education Funding

See the Hundreds of Pet Projects for Schools and Students Federal Lawmakers Want to Fund

By Andrew Ujifusa & Maya Riser-Kositsky — May 19, 2021 1 min read
Image of piggy bank and American flag
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

For the first time in roughly a decade, federal lawmakers are allowed under internal rules to seek direct funding for local pet projects by lobbying for what are commonly known as earmarks. The U.S. House of Representatives recently published a list of the earmarks members are seeking to attach to the annual spending bill for fiscal 2022.

So what’s in it for K-12 and for young people in general? We’ve created a searchable database that will allow you to learn about each of the more than 340 earmark requests so far from House lawmakers that support school districts, as well as for projects and organizations that deal with education or children in various capacities.

In addition, you’ll be able to see the number of requests by different categories, such as infrastructure, STEM, and summer-learning programs; which lawmakers have requested the most funding for education- and child-related projects; and more.

Click here for background on earmarks and how they work.

It’s possible that many of these funding requests won’t be included in the final spending deal that will fund the federal government for fiscal 2022; the House and Senate rules for earmarks this Congress will limit them to 1 percent of discretionary spending in next year’s federal budget. Nonetheless, the earmark requests shed light on lawmakers’ priorities for serving the needs of schools and students, and what kind of requests for funding help members of Congress get from the communities they represent.

Here are a few basic takeaways:

  • Out of 2,887 earmark requests from 530 members of Congress so far, we counted 343 child- or education-related projects (or approximately 12 percent of the total) from 185 lawmakers representing 36 states and territories, as well as the District of Columbia.
  • The child- and education-related projects, if all funded, would cost $335.8 million.
  • Of the 185 lawmakers who requested earmarks related to children or education, 151 were Democrats and 34 were Republicans.
  • “Learning loss” is directly mentioned in 11 of the earmark requests, while the “digital divide” is referenced in five of them.

The database below also does not include earmark requests from members of the Senate, which aren’t available yet. We hope to publish similar data about those requests when they become available.

Related Tags:

A version of this news article first appeared in the Politics K-12 blog.

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Recruitment & Retention Webinar
Substitute Teacher Staffing Simplified: 5 Strategies for Success
Struggling to find quality substitute teachers? Join our webinar to learn key strategies to keep your classrooms covered and students learning.
Content provided by Kelly Education
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Artificial Intelligence Webinar
AI in Education: Empowering Educators to Tap into the Promise and Steer Clear of Peril
Explore the transformative potential of AI in education and learn how to harness its power to improve student outcomes.
Content provided by Panorama Education
English Learners Webinar Family and Community Engagement: Best Practices for English Learners
Strengthening the bond between schools and families is key to the success of English learners. Learn how to enhance family engagement and support student achievement.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Funding Gun Violence Takes a Toll. We Need More Support, Principals Tell Congress
At a congressional roundtable, school leaders made an emotional appeal for more funds to help schools recover from gun violence.
5 min read
Principals from the Principals Recovery Network address lawmakers on the long-term effects of gun violence on Sept. 23, 2024, in Washington, D.C.
Principals address Democratic members of Congress on the long-term effects of gun violence on Sept. 23, 2024, in Washington, D.C.
Courtesy of Oversight Committee Democrats Press Office
Education Funding ESSER Is Ending. Which Investments Accomplished the Most?
Districts have until Sept. 30 to commit their last round of federal COVID aid to particular expenses.
11 min read
Illustration of falling or declining money with a frustrated man in a suit standing on the edge of a cliff the shape of an arrow dollar sign.
DigitalVision Vectors
Education Funding Explainer How One Grant Can Help Schools Recover From Shootings
Schools can leverage a little-known emergency grant to recover from violence or a natural disaster. Here’s how.
9 min read
Broken piggy bank with adhesive bandage on the table
iStock/Getty
Education Funding A Funding Lifeline for Rural Schools Is at Risk, and Not for the First Time
Rural schools near national forests rely on dedicated federal funds. But so far, lawmakers haven't renewed them.
7 min read
School bus on rural route, Owens Valley, CA.
iStock/Getty