Mark Kelly blasts GOP education cuts, $5B voucher program as ‘horrible idea’ at DC rally

Read More

U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat, speaks at a rally June 12, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Shauneen Miranda/States Newsroom)

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly joined education advocates, parents, teachers and students Thursday to blast congressional Republicans’ proposed cuts to education.

The Arizona Democrat and demonstrators spoke out against GOP lawmakers’ “big, beautiful bill,” an attempt to slash billions of dollars in federal spending to offset the cost of President Donald Trump’s sweeping agenda and tax cuts.

Kelly lambasted the private school voucher program tucked into the House’s version of the reconciliation package. The proposal would allocate $5 billion a year in tax credits for people donating to organizations that provide private and religious school scholarships.

“They want to play by different rules — a backhanded way to take your tax dollars and stick it into private schools,” he said. “Let me tell you, Arizona has been fighting this fight for years now, and it is not going well, and the public education that kids can get in the state of Arizona is not the same as it was 10 years ago, so this is not a good idea — it’s a horrible idea.”

Congressional Republicans are using the complex reconciliation process to allow the package to move through Congress with simple majority votes in each chamber, avoiding the Senate’s 60-vote threshold that generally requires bipartisanship.

The House narrowly passed its version of the legislation in May, and it is starting to see proposed changes in the Senate, including on the higher education system.

Advocates also blasted the House reconciliation bill’s cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, as well as the private school voucher program.

‘A direct threat to our children’s future’

“We’ve got to make it easier for kids to get an education,” Kelly said. “We’ve got to make it easier for kids to get the support they need — to get a good start, a good start in life and get a good career that you can actually raise a family on, and that starts right here, right now, with not allowing this Congress and this White House to take us backward.” 

The National Parents Union hosted the rally alongside Educators for Excellence, Education Leaders of Color and EdTrust.

“All week long, parents, students and educators — the real people on the front lines of America’s public schools — have been walking these halls of Congress, meeting with members of the House, members of the Senate, and making one thing crystal clear: this so-called ‘big, beautiful bill’ is a direct threat to our children’s future, and we will not stand for it,” said Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Union, which includes more than 1,800 affiliated parent organizations across the United States.

“There is nothing big or beautiful about slashing billions from public education,” she said.

Meanwhile, Trump’s fiscal 2026 budget request calls for $12 billion in spending cuts at the Education Department, as he and his administration have sought to dramatically redefine the federal role in education and dismantle the agency.

GOP senators’ take on higher ed overhaul

Earlier this week, Republicans on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions released their draft proposal for the reconciliation package, which offers some similarities to the higher education system provisions in the House version of the bill.

Some similarities between the House and Senate versions include: massive changes to student loan repayment options, the creation of a Workforce Pell Grant program and the elimination of both the Grad PLUS program and the Saving on a Valuable Education, or SAVE, plan.

But the Senate’s portion leaves out some of the House’s most sweeping provisions affecting higher education affordability and access.

Unlike in the House, the Senate’s version does not raise the minimum number of credit hours to qualify for the maximum Pell Grant award from 12 credit hours per semester to 15 credit hours, nor does it repeal subsidized loans or eliminate the “90/10 rule,” which requires that at least 10% of the money for-profit institutions receive derives from non-federal sources.

This post was originally authored and published by Shauneen Miranda from AZ Mirror via RSS Feed. Join today to get your news feed on Nationwide Report®.