Good morning. Today, were having a hearing on the Biden Administrations fiscal year 2025 budget request for the department of education. And then happy to welcome secretary cardona to her subcommittee once again. Mr. Secretary, looking forward to working in a bipartisan manner again this year with senator capito to help develop h hhs villa billick and pase come pass a senate, pass the senate be signed into law by the president. We did her last year but House Republicans insistence on partisan policy writers had to coding cuts that set our children young people up for success led to repeated shutdown, showdowns and crs. That culminated in passing final appropriation bills in march that we should a past months before. That can askance does nothing to help ensure our federal resources are used most effectively to serve the people we represent. It causes federal agencies to waste time and money instead of working to ensure every dollar we appropriate served our constituents. We cannot play politics with our childrens future. We need to do better, and mr. Secretary, this budget is a good first step in that direction. It outlines important investments that are necessary to ensure that all students receive the education and support they need to fulfill their potential and move our nation forward. Mr. Secretary, you are aware of the opportunities and challenges across the education spectrum. Child care and preschool are often unaffordable or simply unavailable. There are efforts by lawmakers to ban books from classroom shelves. We are seen young kids bullied and discriminate against in schools and on social media, just because of who they are. Post secondary education costs too much for too many families, and leave some students saddled with insurmountable debt. The written Technical Education is not as widely available as it should be, and employers are often unable to find the workers with the skills they need for available jobs. These are some of the concerns i hear across wisconsin. All said, we have some challenges. Mr. Secretary, investments propose in the president s budget would help tackle many of these issues head on. There is so much we need to do to improve the quality and affordability of post secondary education. The president s budget request contains investments to continue this important work including investment in the cornerstone of our Financial Aid system, that Pell Grant Program. I look forward to working with you to protect and sustain the Pell Grant Program so it can continue to provide this critical assistance to millions of students around this country. I am pleased the budget request supports student parents and activities to help students complete a Postsecondary Education to further their careers. A growing number of post secondary students are nontraditional students, and our colleges need to adapt to help ensure they can succeed. The president s budget request for the child. Access means parents in schools programs would help parents from lowincome backgrounds afford childcare so that they can attend post secondary education. Additional proposed investments in the post secondary Students Success Program with support evidencebased activities to improve postsecondary persistence and completion rates, particularly among nontraditional students. The budget also rightly invest in our nations hbcus, minority serving institutions and tribal colleges. I have seen firsthand the important Educational Opportunities and tribal colleges provide native students in wisconsin and the how important it that we continue to invest in tribal colleges, hbcus, and the size including widely their research infrastructure. This budget also proposes additional investments for administering federal student Financial Aid programs. This year a very challenging rollout of the new simplified fafsa has upended the Financial Aid application process around the country. Leading to much uncertainty for students and their families. Im deeply concerned about low fafsa completion rates, particularly given the promise of pfaff says implication, to make it easier for students to apply and ultimately help more students pursue Postsecondary Education. I know you and your staff are working hard to fix these issues but i cannot emphasize enough how important it is that we get this right. Accessing this aid can mean the difference between somebody able to go to college or not. I am committed to working with you to correct any ongoing issues and improve completion rates of the fafsa this year. At the same time we also need to be working to ensure that next years fafsa is available on time this fall, and rolled out smoothly to students and their families. Mr. Secretary, because not every student will choose a fouryear pathway, i know you share my interest and passion in career and Technical Education, and Important Role that highquality cte can play in preparing students for both college and toward careers. The budgets proposed increase in cte would help states, School Districts and colleges approved the quality of cte programs and better ensured cte programs educate students for jobs of the future. Mr. Secretary, i am also pleased to see that this budget continues support for important investments in key federal elementary and secondary education programs. Building on the increases weve been able to provide in recent years. The budget doubles down on our commitment to title i a programs to provide additional funding to schools serving students from low income families. And also build on our investment in the idb a state grants to boost the federal share of the additional cost of meeting the needs of students with disabilities. I. D. E. A. Paraplegia budget also proposes extra investments for schoolbased Mental Health programs that will increase access to support students in need. The budget also proposed, proposes increased funding for the full Services Community schools programs which can also increase access to needed Mental Health programs. While wisconsin marked 2023 as a year of Mental Health, we know that much work needs to be done to address the significant Mental Health challenges facing too many of our youth. A few alarm statistics from wisconsins office of childrens Mental Health 2023 annual report make that clear. The report indicates 34 of High School Students reported feeling sad or hopeless. 18 of teenagers reported seriously considering suicide. And 40 of lgbtq youth reported seriously considering suicide. Each indicator is going in the wrong direction. National reporting tells the same tragic story. We need to do more to ensure that all students receive the support they need to succeed. Finally, i would be remiss if i did not address the ongoing protest on College Campuses across the United States, colluding in my home state of wisconsin. Peacefully protesting is a fundamental right that all people in this country are entitled to. It is an important tool for people to have their voices heard, and what i support. However, when these protests turn to threats, intimidation, violence and in recent cases at the semitism, they must be called out and condemned in no uncertain terms. Hate has no place in any Educational Institution in america, full stop. I am glad to see that the president s budget help address this had on and rightfully requests an increase in funding for educations office of civil rights. Every student from Early Childhood education to our College Campuses deserve a safe place to learn. Free from hate, bullying or discrimination. This is a fundamental idea that uncommitted to through and through. I key tool in helping make that a reality for Educational Institutions receiving federal assistance is the office of civil rights. In recent months some have called for increased efforts to root out antisemitism in Educational Institutions which i fully agree we must do. But they have been ted talk sickly called for cutting of funding for the very office that leads that work. To help eliminate all forms of discrimination we have to put our money where our mouth is. We need to provide ocr, the office for civil rights and with the Additional Resources it needs to get the job done. In in a moment i will turn it r to Ranking Member capito for her opening remarks. Following senator capito is Opening Statement we will hear from you, secretary cardona, and after that senators will each have five minutes for rounds of questions. I will now turn it over to Ranking Member capito. Thank you, chair baldwin. And thank you, secretary cardona, for coming and being with us today to discuss the Department Budget for 2025. Ask our chair said, last summer this committee was able to Work Together to pass 12 bipartisan appropriation bills out of the great hard work of senator collins here and senator murray leading the charge for us. While i regret it was so very delayed, last Month Congress to pass the final bipartisan funding bills or 2024. We were able to successfully complete the twin 24 process because everyone worked together to find some Common Ground. Fiscal year 2025 is likely to face similar if not greater challenges but im hopeful that we will once again be able to come together to produce a bipartisan 2025 bill, labor bill that prioritizes programs that help provide the opportunity for high quality education for all. While the Budget Proposals proposed to continue spending money on programs and activities that we simply cant afford, i appreciate the somewhat tempered approach this year compared to the previous budget. The fiscal responsibility act continues to be the law of the land and will govern what is possible for moving forward just like last year were going have to make some tough choices. So i am concerned this budget attempts to go around the fra on the fiscal responsibility act by proposing 140 billion in new mandatory spending for programs that this country simply cant afford and that the congress has consistently rejected. Expensive new federal programs like free college art of advice and unlikely to be considered endemic in your spending is over and when you get down to business. The challenges facing k12, i dont need as a former educator or a lifelong educator i should say, facing k12 education are downright alarming for the current generation of our students. We are facing a crisis of chronic absenteeism and failing test scores or falling test scores in this country the number of kids counted as chronically absent missing at least 10 of school days each year is double what it was before the pandemic. In West Virginia my home state, 20 of the children in School Missed more than 18 days of school last school year. Thats almost one month of school. This is it okay and when kit still go to school they dont learn, they dont thrive and they dont grow. Not just academically but also socially. I know you share this concern ii hope your department will continue working to give states and districts the support they need to up get kids back into the classroom. Federal education spending should support states and policies that afford the greatest opportunity for kids to learn and achieve academically. Formula Grant Funding like title i, i. D. E. A. , career Technical Education grants put education decisions as close to the local schools as we can to the teachers, the parents, and also provide the crucial flexibility local committees need to best meet the needs of their students. While in place of Budget Priorities does that with these essential programs. Weber, your budget proposes to slash of the funding entity to help public School Students succeed. For instance, the Charter School program. Senator cardin owner, this is your fourth in front of the committee so it shouldnt come as a surprise to that account to Charter School spending that that goes well in a bipartisan environment. The 40 40 million cut is n false claims declined demand for the program when billy the departments actions are to blame. The departments imposition of burdensome new Program Rules and failure to adequately staffed the Program Office are the real reason for any challenge in this program. With enrollment and traditional Public Schools declined following the pandemic, Charter School enrollment increased. Thats a pretty clear indication of increased demand. The budget includes a 600 million or 3 increase to funny for the office of federal student aid. Yet the office of federal student aid also received 2 billion a year and is not clear what the American Students are getting and people are getting for their investment. I am particularly concerned by the disastrous rollout of the new fafsa for 2025 school year. I dont normally come before folks who are doing the best they can do in the jobs are in, but this is just got me totally undone because its got everybody in my state and across the nation just appalled at how this could be handled so ineptly. Congress passed the fafsa supplication act or so before the chairwoman said this, and abu the process of applying for federal aid by december 2020 or more than three years ago. Yet this administrations the publication of the law has not made things better for students or administrators. It is not an understatement to say this is been unmitigated disaster caused by inexcusable failure of leadership. Implementation of this bipartisan congressional priority should of been a top priority for the Biden Administration. It took us a long time to pass that simplification act. We could get more Alexandra Zapruder tell us how long. The deadline to update the fafsa should come as no surprise Lamar Alexander august the the administration and asked you to get blueprints that are prioritizing this important work the Political Leadership at the department of ed chose to spend time, resources and personnel to advance the administrations priorities of an canceling student debt. To me that is indefensible. I have spoke with so many West Virginians this past summer months who were angry about the departments misplaced priorities and feel discouraged about the future because of the bungled fafsa implementation period fafsa completions are down 36 nationally, compared to this time last year. In my home state of West Virginia the number of High School Students that have completed fafsa is down almost 40 compared to this time last year. For nontraditional aid students in West Virginia, students age 255 and up, ask a completion rates are down 35 . Maybe students put off post education to work or to care for a family member. That because of this mess theyre having to delay their goal furthering their education. Some students may never end up in raleigh a post secondary education because the hurdles to complete the fafsa are just too high. And many of those have managed to overcome the difficulties and submit their fafsa are still left in the dark about what Financial Aid are eligible for in the fall. This is obvious a huge issue for students and their families. Its a challenge for colleges and universities because of delays and challenges concerning the rollout of the new nasa, 482 million is hanging in the bounds balance for students in West Virginia. Severely jeopardizing College Access and affordability for those students, and many of them will be the first in a families to go to college. Tomorrow is may 1. Traditionally known as College Decision day. In a typical Year High School graduates across america will be finalizing their decisions as to which college or university to attend. But this year your Department Just yesterday said sent colleges the correct information to packages aid awards. Students are still unable to make plans and informed Financial Decisions likely to be one the most expensive and consequential choices that they will make in their lives. I agree with your statement that theres nothing more important right now at the department of and and help moving from you will be focused on addressing outstanding issues and assuring that these problems are not repeated in the in the 2a cycle. Our students do deserve better. On that note i am concerne