House Republicans and President Trump’s FY27 education funding proposals are continuing with the Great American Heist — the largest transfer of wealth in U.S. history — by proposing draconian cuts to public education.  Both proposals would cut billions of dollars from federal programs, including money for teacher training, after-school programs, school counselors and nurses, specialists to support the needs of students with disabilities and multilingual learners, and research and data activities to help us understand what works to make education better. The funding proposals also aim to:

• Cut nearly $2 billion Title I funding, which is a lifeline for schools in the nation’s high-poverty communities. (House proposal)
• Convert 17 federal programs into a single block grant, while reducing the total funding of the block-granted programs from $6.5 billion to $2 billion. This would not only reduce education services overall but open the door to districts abandoning certain families, students, and schools. (President’s proposal)
• Eliminate funding for several programs to train educators and help create a diverse educator workforce, despite a nationwide teacher shortage and the most diverse student population in American history. (Both proposals)

While Senate appropriations leaders have previously rejected these cuts, it is critical that they continue to do so. Similar to last year, bipartisan majorities in the Senate should draft a bill that protects these educational investments, reverses the unlawful transfer of programs to other agencies, and sets the table for a final FY27 agreement that does so as well.

EdTrust’s Federal Funding at Risk tool highlights what’s at stake if either proposal is implemented. The tool helps you understand the effects in terms of dollars, teacher salaries, tutoring, and school counselors. Funding for school districts across the country — particularly funding for districts with high percentages of students of color and districts in high-poverty, urban, or rural communities — face disastrous cuts.

Simply put: the president’s budget proposal and the House bill would mean fewer services, programs, and opportunities for the students who need them the most — including students of color, students from low-income backgrounds, multilingual learners, and students with disabilities. Opportunity gaps will grow and funding roadblocks will limit pathways for student success in school and beyond.

We need the Senate to reject that pathway and, at minimum, maintain federal educational investment.

Methodology (PDF)

Grant Programs Glossary (PDF)