4 days ago
Education Department eyes program cuts, consolidations in FY26 budget plan
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The Trump administration revealed more details of its fiscal year 2026 budget proposal for the U.S. Department of Education on Friday, detailing its vision for how the agency would support students with disabilities and those from low-income families while also cutting federal red tape and expanding school choice incentives.
Last month, the White House released an FY 2026 "skinny" budget that included a more than $4.5 billion cut in K-12 funding. The more comprehensive budget recommends a total of $66.7 billion for all Education Department activities, which would be $12 billion, or 15.3%, less than its current funding level.
"Our goal is clear: to make education better, fairer, and more accountable by ending Federal overreach and empowering families, schools, and States who best know the needs of their students," the budget document said.
The budget recommends maintaining funding for Title I, Part A grants to low-income school communities at $18.4 billion and an increase of $677.5 million — for a total of $14.9 billion — for Part B state grants under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
Other K-12 programs slated for increases or level funding include the charter school grant program ($500 million), Impact Aid ($1.6 billion), Indian education ($194.7 million), and career and technical education ($1.45 billion).
But several other programs are targeted for spending reductions and eliminations under a new K-12 Simplified Funding Program. The K-12 SFP merges 18 current competitive formula funding grant programs into one $2 billion formula grant program that the administration said will spur innovation and give states more decision-making power.
Programs that used to have dedicated line budgets — such as the McKinney-Vento grant to support students experiencing homelessness, the 21st Century Community Learning Centers for before and afterschool learning programs, and the Title II, Part A program to support teacher effectiveness — would be consolidated in the K-12 SFP.
Some other programs are being recommended for defunding. Those programs include teacher and school leader incentive grants, the Supporting Effective Educator Development grant, the English Language Acquisition state grants, and full service community schools. Eliminating these programs would ensure fiscal discipline, reduce the federal role in education and give states more authority to make their own fiscal decisions, the budget document said.
Many of the proposed cuts are to programs that the Trump administration said are too "woke" or rooted in diversity, equity and inclusion practices. For example, the White House said it wants to eliminate $315 million for Preschool Development grants that the administration said was a "push" to include DEI practices into early childhood programs.
Another $77 million is recommended for cuts to Teacher Quality Partnerships because the grants were used to "indoctrinate new teachers," the White House said. Equity Assistance Centers, which are funded at $7 million currently, would be eliminated because the technical assistance work includes divisive topics such as critical race theory, DEI, social justice activism and anti-racist practices, according to budget documents.
One program previously thought to be considered for elimination — the Head Start early learning program for young children — is now recommended for level funding at $12.3 billion, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
While the Trump administration has released more details of its FY 26 plan, justifications for the proposals are still being developed. U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon will appear before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee panel Tuesday to discuss the funding requests.
Some conservative organizations applauded the spending plan. Madison Marino Doan, a policy analyst in the Center for Education Policy at The Heritage Foundation, said the request represents what the Education Department calls a "responsible wind-down" of the agency, which is welcomed by the conservative group.
Doan said The Heritage Foundation is especially encouraged by the proposed consolidation of 18 grant programs into the K-12 SFP. "If implemented effectively, the department has indicated that these changes would reduce administrative burdens and compliance costs, allowing more resources to flow directly to students and classrooms, and giving states and districts greater flexibility to meet their unique needs," Doan said.
Many education associations, however, were quick to condemn the fiscal plan, the first annual budget proposal of President Donald Trump's second term. AASA, The School Superintendents Association, said it was "disappointed" in the budget recommendations and opposes the cuts and consolidations. 'In an attempt to provide flexible district funding, the President proposed cuts to resources that are imperative to delivering services for rural schools, evidence-based reading instruction, professional development for educators, supports for English-language learners as well as music, art, and STEM programs,' AASA said in a statement.
For special education grants, the Trump administration wants to consolidate preschool grants to states and IDEA, Part D funding for technical assistance and teacher preparation into the Part B program. Funding for IDEA Part C for services to infants and toddlers with disabilities would remain a separate formula grant program. Although the fiscal design would give states more flexibility with spending the Part D dollars, the budget proposal said states would still be required to meet key IDEA accountability and reporting requirements. AASA points out that consolidations mean that the administration's proposed $677.5 million increase for IDEA Part B won't see much of a boost because those programs were collectively funded at $676 million.
Myrna Mandlawitz, the policy and legislative consultant at the Council of Administrators of Special Education, said the problem with lumping the Part B, the preschool grant program and Part D together is that those sections of IDEA allocations were meant to be their own funding avenues to ensure each population served by those programs get the fiscal attention they need.
"When all the money is just sent to states, some states do well and some not so well," Mandlawitz said.
Jodi Grant, executive director of Afterschool Alliance, offered a dire warning if the budget proposal was accepted as written, saying that funding cuts to after-school programing will lead to "more academic failures, more hungry kids, more chronic absenteeism, higher dropout rates, more parents forced out of their jobs, and a less STEM-ready and successful workforce.'
In a statement, Grant said, "Unless Congress rejects this devastating proposal, afterschool and summer learning programs in every corner of the country will close and our child care crisis will worsen dramatically."
Eddie Koen, president of the Institute for Educational Leadership, criticized the proposed elimination of Full-Service Community Schools and the K-12 SFP consolidation of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers. "The Department of Education's FY26 Budget Request falls far short of funding the evidence-based, bold, family and child-centered strategies our students, families, schools, and communities urgently need,' Koen said in a statement. Even leaders who are overseeing programs recommended for increases or level funding voiced their concerns.
"Maintaining funding for a third consecutive year — without accounting for inflation, workforce competition, or increased needs — is effectively a deep cut," said Yasmina Vinci, executive director of the National Head Start Association, in a statement. "It means programs will be forced to make impossible choices, including reducing enrollment, cutting hours, or laying off staff."
The federal government is technically operating on the approved FY 2024 budget since Congress has not finalized a FY 2025 spending plan. An extension of the FY 2024 budget, or continuing resolution, runs through Sept. 30, and the 2026 fiscal year starts on Oct. 1.
But as the Trump administration has already begun downsizing the Education Department and cutting programs, Democrats in Congress have criticized the White House for not adhering to the spending plan and for delays in getting approved money to states and districts. A May 16 letter to McMahon from three Democratic leaders of congressional appropriations committees chided the Education Department for what the lawmakers said are delays in providing states and school districts with information about expected formula funding.
"We implore the Department to reverse course, stop creating chaos, provide states and school districts with information about the resources Congress provided in the 2025 appropriations law and begin to support states and their school districts in the effective implementation of federal law," the letter said.
According to Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, President Trump is expected to submit a request to Congress this week to rescind funds already appropriated.
In addition to debating funding levels for FY 26, Congress is also working on a massive tax and spending package that seeks to make permanent tax cuts enacted in 2017 under the first Trump administration. The budget reconciliation package aims to reduce taxes and offset costs of new priorities under the second Trump administration, including a new federal private school choice initiative.
