Congress passed a massive and harmful bill in early July that includes sweeping cuts to essential programs that millions of people rely on every day. From healthcare and food assistance to housing, and clean energy investments, the harm done by this law will be felt in communities across the country—including in our public schools. To help break it all down, Citizen Action Illinois is holding a virtual briefing this coming Monday, Aug 11th at 11am with leading experts from the Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness, Illinois Environmental Council, the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, and Illinois Families for Public Schools.

IL-FPS’ Cassie Creswell will cover the national voucher program that was quietly tucked into the Big Ugly Bill and other implications for public schools. You can find her slides here.

You’ll get a clear explanation of what’s in the bill, which programs are affected, and what it could mean for families, students, and communities in Illinois and beyond.

The briefing will also share opportunities for you to take action—whether that’s educating your community, amplifying the message, or getting involved with efforts to protect what matters most.

Join us for a "What's In The Big Ugly Bill Briefing" on Monday, August 11!
When? Monday, August 11
Time? 11am-Noon
Where? Zoom! Register here: https://citizenaction-il.org/biguglybill
Who? You! We hope you’ll join us for this important conversation!

Thanks for standing with us and so many advocacy orgs as we continue to fight for Illinoisans and inform them about the dangers coming as a result of the One Big Ugly Bill!

Now some good news out of DC…

Late last month, the Trump administration reversed themselves and ended their illegal withholding of billions in federal funds already appropriated to schools for Fiscal Year 2025. These are funds that support things like teacher training, after school programs and children of migrant farmworkers who change schools frequently. Bipartisan uproar against this, including from Republican senators, resulted in the administration relenting and releasing the funds.

As we mentioned last week, these same federal Title funds are at risk for the coming fiscal year because Trump’s proposed budget for FY 2026 would eliminate them.

The legislative budget process, however, has many steps, and a vote last Thursday was both surprising and very promising: The Senate Appropriations Committee approved their markup of the budget for Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education agencies for FY 2026, and it didn’t include the Trump administration’s proposed cuts.

Instead, it preserved funding for the Department of Education, and, in fact, increased funding slightly for Title I dollars for schools that serve low-income students, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and Head Start. It also added new requirements so that administration machinations like withholding funds, sending them to agencies other than the Dept of Ed, or chopping staff needed to administer funding wouldn’t be possible.

There are many steps yet before the FY 2026 budget is finalized. The full Senate needs to vote, and the same process needs to happen in the House, eventually resulting in the same language being approved by both chambers.

There are various potential pitfalls to come, and as we’ve seen multiple times this year, the President and his appointees like Linda McMahon are happy to try to illegally withhold funds that Congress has voted to spend.

All that said, this was a very overwhelming bipartisan vote (26-3) to continue funding public education and other public goods, and clearly political pressure led even Republican legislators to defy the president.

Read the full details on what was approved by the Senate Committee and what could still happen from here out in Education Week. (Archived version without paywall here.)

The committee vote shows that organizing and advocacy, even in these bleak times where our democracy is on the rocks, can work. So, it’s important to keep showing up!

In case you missed it…

The Illinois House Executive Committee held a hearing on the finances of Chicago Public Schools. Like the vast majority of districts in Illinois (80% last year), CPS is not fully funded, and, as federal funds for pandemic relief have now ended, CPS is, once again, facing a substantial deficit for the school year that starts in less than two weeks.

If you missed the hearing, you can listen to it here, and follow along with our liveskeeting on Bluesky: text only of that thread here, and full thread here.

If you haven't been in touch with your state senator or state rep this summer, this is an excellent time to reach out to ask about school funding. Find their district and Springfield numbers here, and here's a suggested script:

As always, thanks for your continued advocacy! Questions? Ideas? Get in touch [email protected].

-- Team IL-FPS