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Trump’s budget calls for:
- $18.4 billion for Title I, which supports high-poverty schools
- $500 million for charter schools
- Nearly $16 billion for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act programs, a total increase of $539 million. It is a bright spot, albeit modest, given the daunting costs of special education being shouldered mostly by local school districts. The President’s proposed special education increase is contrasted with a nearly identical amount being proposed by Governor Newsom in his state budget for schools. Like last year’s federal proposal, the administration is again pursuing the consolidation of several special education grants, which would give states more discretion on how they can spend the funding. Congress rejected that proposal last fiscal year
- In total, the education budget would cut 2.9 percent in discretionary funds
Last year, the administration was pursuing cuts of more than $12 billion and instead ended up agreeing to a net increase in overall education funding to pass an appropriations bill that would secure the needed votes in Congress. That scenario is not likely to change when Congress digs into the appropriations process again in the coming months. It does not mean that the education community should simply count on the cuts being rejected without advocacy and a concerted effort to communicate impacts to members of Congress and our two Senators.
Since the start of his second term, Trump has moved aggressively to eliminate the Education Department, cutting nearly half its staff and offloading programs to other federal agencies. But despite these efforts, closing the Department requires the approval of Congress, something that has been acknowledged by Education Secretary Linda McMahon.
A statement by the administration included in the release of the budget plan for FY 2027 underscored their continued objectives to eliminate the education agency saying, “The budget puts the Department of Education which has failed the Nation’s children, teachers, and families, on a path to elimination,” and that, “The Budget advances efforts underway to dismantle the Federal education bureaucracy, including reducing ED’s staff and transferring programs to other agencies that can deliver better results.”
However, despite efforts to dismantle the department, the budget proposal would maintain and boost funding for certain administration priorities, such as plugging the $5.4 billion Pell Grant deficit. It also proposes $2 billion for new Make Education Great Again grants, which would consolidate 17 existing programs that totaled $6.5 billion. The new program would give states the flexibility to fund “activities based on their needs without Federal prescription.” The MEGA grant proposal is like the Title I consolidation Trump pitched in last year’s budget that was also rejected by the Republican-led Congress.
We’ll continue to update you as the federal budget discussions in Washington D.C. continue. Please reach out to any of us if we can provide additional information.
Have a nice weekend,
-Kevin
Kevin Gordon
President | Capitol Advisors Group
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