The Biden Administration’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request arrives at a time when supporting the stability and prosperity of global communities has never been more important. Unfortunately, the $627.1 million budget request proposes a 32 percent cut for international basic education compared to the FY24 enacted level.
With over 250 million children currently out of school, according to the United Nations, and as overlapping global challenges continue to unfold -- from conflicts and humanitarian emergencies in Europe and the Middle East, to North Africa -- now is not the time to back away from our development and humanitarian priorities.
“Education, particularly basic education, provides the foundation upon which communities and nations can thrive. Proposals to under-fund international basic education threaten not only years of progress raising levels of education attainment, but also U.S. Government investments in national security, health, agriculture, and other sectors,” said Eric Eversmann and Heather Simpson, Co-Chairs of the Basic Education Coalition.
The Basic Education Coalition is disappointed in the Administration’s short-sighted proposal amidst this very tumultuous backdrop and encourages Congress to work with the Administration over the coming months to expand upon the FY2025 Budget Request.
For Fiscal Year 2025, the Basic Education Coalition is requesting $1.1 billion for international basic education, with no less than $900 million included for bilateral U.S. Government programming.
The FY2025 Congressional Budget Justification, its annexes, and the supplementary tables for the International Affairs Budget can be found here.