Ahead of setting school budgets, Michigan education leaders brace for federal cuts

Yahoo

20-03-2025

As the U.S. Department of Education's future is uncertain, school leaders across Michigan are pondering an intimidating reality as they plan next school year's budget: What if a portion — or all — of the state's annual federal funding goes away?
Michigan receives roughly $2 billion in federal education funding annually.
Nikolai Vitti, superintendent of Detroit Public Schools Community District, held a budget update on Wednesday. Vitti, in the virtual meeting with over 1,000 attendees, said his district, the largest in the state, disproportionately relies on federal funding, compared with other districts in the state.
"You can imagine the hurt and pain that we will experience by losing federal funds," he said. Adding later that the direction the federal government has taken under President Donald Trump is "defunding the future of the most disadvantaged children in this country."
"This is no longer a drill," he said. "We have to stop thinking, 'Oh it's rhetoric; it's just an executive order.'... This is real, folks. ... We cannot wait, we cannot hope. We cannot pray alone to think that we're going to get through this without changing direction and advocating for something different and something better."
The U.S. Department of Education's workforce has already been about cut in half, with cuts to some grant and research programs. Federal education funding makes up about 9% of the state's education budget, according to the Michigan League for Public Policy. No concrete cuts to federal funding have been put forward and even if Congress eliminated the federal education department, funding wouldn't automatically be cut. But speculation over what could be cut has proliferated. A federal budget resolution approved Friday does not lay out many specific streams of education funding, Education Week reported, prompting even more speculation about what could be slashed by Congress.
School budgets have to be completed by June 30. And a lot could happen between now and then. But already, administrators have started to use the word "cut" — hopefully, judiciously, Vitti said, if federal cuts happen.
"What I don't want to do is go to a world where many of you lived once where everyone gets a pink slip saying we don't know if your job is there next year," he said.
Novi Community School District Superintendent Ben Mainka said he is preparing for both the best- and worst-case scenarios as budget uncertainty looms.
"We're kind of operating under the auspices of, let's be prepared, but let's also not do something rash and reduce programming or something like that ahead of hearing any information about actual cuts," Mainka said.
In Wayne County alone, schools receive $421 per student in federal Title I funding, which is meant to help schools that educate a disproportionate amount of students from low-income homes.
The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, which allocates money for services for students with disabilities, is federal law. Michigan schools received about $460 million in federal funding for special education in 2024, about 15% of the funding for special education services, according to the Michigan League for Public Policy.
State funding remains the largest source of education funding. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's proposed budget includes a 4.1% increase to the foundation allowance for Michigan students, raising it to $10,000 per pupil, up from $9,608. But whether Whitmer's proposed budget will be passed as-is is up to lawmakers, who will likely agree on their own proposals before passing a budget, expected sometime in the summer.
While 10% of state education funding is federal, about 32% of federal funding constitutes Detroit Public Schools budget, Vitti said, which is because the district has a weak local tax base and a larger population of vulnerable students than many districts in the state.
Vitti said he is particularly concerned that Congress, in service of cutting $2 trillion from the budget, could eliminate portions of Title I funding, funding for teacher training, funding for English Learners, funding for programs that help low-income students improve learning experiences, Medicaid funding that helps students with disabilities, and funding for school lunch programs.
In Detroit, $124 million in Title I funding for the 2024-25 school year went to paying academic interventionists, funding for assistant principals, funding for literacy programs, and more purposes. If Congress cut 25% of Title I funding, the superintendent said, Detroit would see $30 million gone.
Vitti, stressing that no idea has been finalized, discussed several strategies district officials have thought up to address any potential budget cuts, including: accelerating the closure of schools that district had already planned to close, reducing discretionary funds for purposes such as professional development and STEM programs, freezing hiring for vacant roles, delaying technology upgrades and eliminating commercial property insurance coverage.
"Myself and the board is already thinking about ways to keep people employed, mainly protect school staffing, protect student programming so reform can continue despite these cuts for the next year or two," he said.
In Warren on Wednesday, educators, parents and students held school "walk-ins" to protest recent cuts to the federal education department. Robert Callender, a chemistry teacher and president of the Warren Education Association, wrote in a news release that federal education funding is critical to educating vulnerable students in particular.
'Dismantling the Department of Education would be devastating for local students with special needs and students from lower-income families, as our schools rely on federal resources to support special education programs, tutoring, school meals and more,' Callender wrote in a news release. 'This would cause permanent harm to Warren students, who need and deserve more support — not less.'
Education leaders also stressed that federal funding for students with disabilities has never been fully funded: The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act promised to fund 40% of special education funding, but has largely hovered around the 15% mark, according to the American Speech–Language–Hearing Association. Many districts, even with state special education funding, have to dip into general education funding to cover special education expenses.
"We're seeing a significant amount of challenges that relates to costs" of special education services, Mainka said. "Because, obviously, to support our children in the way that they need to be supported — and we're adamant that they get that support — it costs a lot of money."
Wendy Zdeb, executive director of the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals, wrote in an email response to questions from the Detroit Free Press that part of the frustration among education leaders is the pace at which the federal government is making cuts.
"Compounding this is the lack of communication from the federal government," she wrote. "It seems as though cuts are happening so quickly in other departments of the government and schools need time to react to these things. It is pretty unnerving to just be watching the headlines learning about what is happening at the same time as the public."
Contact Lily Altavena: [e-mail].
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan education leaders brace for federal cuts amid speculation