top of page
Search

Trump Administration Budget Threatens to Eliminate All Adult Education Funding

  • Marcus J. Hopkins
  • 2 days ago
  • 4 min read

Updated: 6 hours ago

The image features a gradient background transitioning from a cool blue on the left to a warm yellow on the right. Superimposed on this background is a map of the Appalachian region, outlined and divided into various colored sections representing different regions or counties. The colors include blue, dark blue, red, orange, and cream. To the top left, large white text reads: "Help Us Build the Appalachian Adult Education Directory." Below the map, there's a call to action in white text with a URL link. At the bottom left, there is the logo of the Appalachian Learning Initiative (APPLI) with their website link. To the right of the logo is a QR code. In the bottom right, there are icons for various social media platforms and the text for following on these platforms.
APPLI has identified adult education providers in over 220 of Appalachia's 423 counties and 8 independent Virginia cities—all of which are at risk of closure should the President's "Skinny Budget" be implemented

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


TRUMP ADMINISTRATION'S BUDGET PROPOSAL ELIMINATES ALL ADULT EDUCATION FUNDING


MORGANTOWN, W. Va., May 13, 2025


The Appalachian Learning Initiative (APPLI, like "apply") is bringing attention to the recently released "Skinny Budget," released by the Office of Management and Budget on May 2nd, 2025, which proposes cutting $729 million in Adult Education funding from the federal budget.


This proposal would result in the total elimination of all funding for adult education allocated under the U.S. Department of Education through the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA), Title II of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), which disbursed $715,455,000 in Fiscal Year 2024.


"The second Trump Administration has been an unmitigated disaster for education in the United States," said Marcus J. Hopkins, Founder & Executive Director of APPLI. "From the unconscionable and illegal refusal to disburse Congressionally allocated and appropriated funds, to the wholesale and indiscriminate destruction of our nation's educational, public health, and social safety net infrastructures, this extremist administration has fundamentally failed this nation and its citizens."


The image is a bar chart illustrating literacy levels in the United States across three different years: 2012/14, 2017, and 2023. There are three horizontal bars, each representing a year, segmented into three literacy levels: Level 1 or below, Level 2, and Level 3 or above. The segments are color-coded in shades of blue. For 2012/14, the percentages are 18% for Level 1 or below, 33% for Level 2, and 50% for Level 3 or above. In 2017, the percentages are 19% for Level 1 or below, 33% for Level 2, and 48% for Level 3 or above. In 2023, the figures are 28% for Level 1 or below, 29% for Level 2, and 44% for Level 3 or above. Below the chart, a text states that recent tests show nearly 6 out of 10 adults (57%) in the United States read at or below an 8th-grade level. The bottom left corner features the Appalachian Learning Initiative logo. Social media icons for Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and a globe are located in the bottom right corner, alongside the handle "@APPLIOrg."
More than half of adults (57%) living in the United States read at or below an 8th-grade level, including more than 1 out of every 4 adults (28%) who read below a 3rd-grade level or are unable to read entirely

According to the most recently released data from the National Center for Education Statistics, 57% of adults aged 16-65 living in the United States read at or below an 8th-grade level, including more than 1 out of every 4 adults who read below a 3rd-grade level or are unable to read entirely.


This means that approximately 193,863,263 adults are struggling or are unable to:


  • Cycle through or integrate two or more pieces of information;

  • Compare and contrast or reason about any information presented to them; or

  • Navigate within digital texts to access and identify information from various parts of a document (Appalachian Learning Initiative, 2022).


"Despite nearly 6 out of every 10 Americans struggling to read, federal funding has never been adequate to address low literacy levels in American adults," continued Hopkins. "In Fiscal Year 2024, funding provided under the WIOA amounted to just $3.69 per adult in need of remedial reading education. This was wholly unacceptable, then, and the elimination of those meager funds requires vehement opposition."


Contact Your Representatives and Senators About Adult Education Funding Now:

The image is an illustrated depiction of people raising their hands against a backdrop of mountains and trees, suggesting a call to action or advocacy. The foreground features silhouettes of five individuals, each with an arm raised, in diverse colors including shades of blue, orange, and green. The background showcases stylized mountains in hues of yellow, orange, and brown, with a clear sky above, adding to the scenery's depth. In the top left corner is the logo for the Appalachian Learning Initiative, displaying a colored bridge arch design. Text on the right encourages viewers to "Raise your voice and demand to BE HEARD," followed by a shortened URL. At the bottom, “Appalachian Advocacy Toolkit” is prominently displayed.
The Appalachian Advocacy Toolkit provides state-level contact information for Congressional Representatives and Senators representing Appalachia

The Appalachian Learning Initiative is asking people from across our magnificent region to directly engage with the federal elected officials who served as our Representatives and Senators in Congress.


APPLI is dedicated to researching and reporting on the educational, health, and socioeconomic disparities that impact the lives of the approximately 26.5 million residents of the Appalachian Region, and engaging in advocacy to create solutions that address these issues.


Recent events have prompted the organization to debut the Appalachian Advocacy Toolkit ahead of schedule.


The nation is facing unprecedented threats to the institutions upon which Appalachians rely:


  • Educators at both the K-12 and higher education levels are increasingly facing threats from lawmakers who ban books, inject their personal religious beliefs into public school curricula, and attempt to redirect public tax dollars to private schools, 65% of which go to families who could already afford to send their children to private school;

  • Nearly 1 out of every 6 Appalachian residents and their families (~16%) who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) may go hungry;

  • More than 1 out of every 4 men, women, and children (~27%) who are publicly insured may become sick or die after being forced to delay or skip life-saving medical appointments and medications;

  • Public health officials may be unable to respond to infectious disease outbreaks, including HIV, Hepatitis, Syphilis, Tuberculosis, Whooping Cough, Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), and Bird Flu (H5N1) because they are unable to access vital data systems from the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the AtlasPlus tool; and

  • Cities and states across the country that are working to modernize our infrastructure, weatherize our homes, and clean up environmental disasters have received stop-work orders from federal officials, and the data tools that provide insight into which communities are bearing the impacts of climate change.


These risks are not imaginary—they are existential, and they require APPLI to provide the constituency it serves with the contact information of the federal officials elected to represent them.


With these risks in mind, APPLI has released the first iteration of the Appalachian Advocacy Toolkit. This version of the Advocacy Toolkit provides information about each of Appalachia's federal elected officials, including Congressional Representatives and Senators, including the following:

​

  • Name

  • ​Party Affiliation

  • District

  • Term in Office

  • Appalachian Counties Served

  • Committee Assignments

  • Website

  • Social Media Channels

  • Office Locations and Contact Information

​

We encourage the residents of Appalachia to reach out to their federal legislators and make their voices heard.


Select your state from the map below to find your legislators:



The Appalachian Learning Initiative is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in November 2021 that focuses on researching, reporting on, advocating for, and building solutions to address issues related to adult literacy, numeracy, health literacy, and equitable access to services in the 13-state, 423-county Appalachian Region. APPLI is based in Morgantown, WV, and can be found on the web at https://www.appli.org and can be reached at info@appli.org for more information.



bottom of page