US Senator Merkley and US Representative Bonamici, both Democrats from Oregon, joined more than eighty members of Congress on a February 21 letter pressing the US Department of Education for explanations on canceled education research contracts, including those for evaluating national test scores and operating scientific peer review panels to evaluate grant funding applications. 

On February 10, 2025, the Education Department terminated at least 89 contracts worth nearly $900 million at the behest of the Department of Government Efficiency service group to the department’s independent research arm, the Institute of Education Sciences (IES). 

The 13-page letter, led by US Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and US Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), ranking members for the US Senate and US House committees with jurisdiction over the US Department of Education, expresses concern about the impact of the cancellations on tracking student learning and supporting youth with disabilities. 

In particular, the letter notes that IES not only canceled National Center for Education Research (NCER) and National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER) peer review panels that evaluate grant applications for scientific merit but it also canceled the contract enabling the agency to manage peer review panels in the future. The letter notes: 

“Congress appropriated $309 million to IES in fiscal year 2024 to support rigorous research in areas of great importance to our nation, including literacy and special education. By canceling NCER and NCSER peer review panels, it is unclear how IES will follow the requirements listed in section 134(b) of the ESRA to review and evaluate all applications for grants and cooperative agreements that exceed $100,000.”

This ability to evaluate pending applications for funding leaves education researchers in limbo. The College of Education at the University of Oregon is a national leader in education research and is recognized as one of the best programs in the nation, with the special education graduate program ranked third in the nation. Since the formation of IES in 2002, UO researchers have secured more IES grants and contracts than any other public university in the country, translating research into effective models, methods, and measures that improve the lives of Oregonians, students and families all around the country. 

For more than a decade, Merkley and Bonamici have led the annual appropriations advocacy in Congress to secure funding for IES, attempting to reverse 2011 cuts made to the agency and NCSER, particularly when budget caps were imposed across the board.