PAA and APC joined the letter endorsing the $737.47 million included in the FY 2022 budget request. The amount included in the president’s FY 2022 budget request would restore lost purchasing power over the past decade for IES to leverage education research, statistics, and evidence-based resources to address long-standing gaps in educational access and outcomes. The results from the 2019 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in math, reading, and science indicate that growing gaps in proficiency are partly driven by declines in average scores in the 25th and 10th percentiles. Developing and scaling up programs that address academic and socioemotional needs for traditionally underserved students require a robust investment such as the one proposed for FY 2022.In addition, this funding level would bolster the research and statistical infrastructure needed to support learning recovery, understand and address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic across all levels of education, and ensure the continuation of research and data collection in the field. We also acknowledge that technology and informal settings for learning will remain important parts of education even as schools fully return to in-person instruction in the 2021-22 school year. The FY 2022 budget request would expand the capacity of IES to fund transformative research that incorporates education technology to help determine what works and how to improve programs for specific student populations. In turn, research supported by IES informs webinars, resources, and other tools used by educators, school administrators, counselors, and paraprofessionals.