Keep Our PACT Act
Key claim: The bill would fund extra academic help at high-poverty K–12 schools through 2035 and permanently reauthorize federal special-education grants to states, treating the spending as emergency money that does not have to be offset under budget rules.
Abstract
(HR869 · 119th Congress) Keep Our Promise to America’s Children and Teachers Act or the Keep Our PACT Act This bill provides funding through FY2035 for grant programs operated by local educational agencies to provide supplementary educational and related services to low-achieving students and other students who attend elementary and secondary schools with relatively high concentrations of students from low-income families. Additionally, the bill permanently reauthorizes the grant program to assist states and outlying areas in providing special education and related services to children with disabilities. The amounts provided by the bill are designated as an emergency requirement for the purposes of Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) rules and other budget enforcement procedures. Latest action (2025-01-31): Referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Why this matters
Title I and IDEA Part B are the two largest federal K-12 funding streams, and both have historically relied on annual appropriations that fall short of their authorized or promised levels. By locking in Title I-style supplementary aid through 2035, permanently reauthorizing IDEA grants, and designating the money as emergency spending outside pay-as-you-go rules, the bill would meaningfully change the budget baseline for high-poverty districts and special education services if enacted. As an introduced bill referred to committee, it signals the Democratic policy ask on full federal funding of these programs rather than imminent law.