Deep Dive · No. 03 FY2026 & FY2027 budget receipts
The Budget Cuts

They proposed
cutting
$12 billion
from schools.

The administration's FY2026 budget proposed cutting 15% of the U.S. Department of Education. The same agency that funds Title I, IDEA, Comprehensive Literacy Development Grants, and civil rights enforcement in schools. The committee with jurisdiction stayed silent while it played pretend on cable news. Then Congress, with bipartisan majorities, rejected most of the cuts. The proposals are back in FY2027.

FY2026 budget request · White House
−$12B
Proposed cut to the U.S. Department of Education in the administration's FY2026 budget. 15% of the agency's funding. Targeted at the part of the federal government that holds American schools accountable.1
Source: K-12 Dive

§ 01The biggest receipts

−$194M
Cut to Comprehensive Literacy Development Grants. The federal grant program designed to teach American kids to read.1 Proposed while 4 in 10 fourth graders can't read at NAEP Basic.
−$890M
Cut to Title III English Language Acquisition. Affects 5.5 million English learners across the country. Rep. DeLauro warned this single cut would force 72,000 teachers out of classrooms.2
−$1.1B
Cut to TRIO programs. College access for low-income, first-generation, and disabled students. Eliminated.1
−$388M
GEAR UP. Federal program preparing low-income middle and high schoolers for college. Zeroed out.1
−$70M
All Teacher Quality Partnership Grants. Often used to diversify and strengthen the teacher workforce. Eliminated.1
−$7M
All funding for Equity Assistance Centers. Established under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to address the legacy of segregation. Wiped.1

§ 02The big picture

What they want to cut

$9.2B

From K-12 specifically in the FY2026 proposal.3

$1.4B

From student financial assistance in the same proposal.3

72K

Teachers Rep. Rosa DeLauro estimated would be forced out of classrooms.3

What that funds

5.5M

English learners served by Title III.3

100K+

Public schools educated by Department of Education programs.4

7.5M

Students with disabilities supported by IDEA grants.4

The agency you starve is the agency that holds schools accountable. That is the point. The Receipts, May 2026

§ 03What Congress did about it

Here is the part that matters. Bipartisan majorities in Congress rejected the cuts. In February 2026 the House voted 217-214 to approve a spending package that maintained roughly current-level funding for Title I, IDEA, Title II, and Title III.5

That is good. That is what oversight looks like. It is also what the House Education and Workforce Committee did not lead on. The committee's signature K-12 product in this Congress is a private school donor tax credit signed into law in July 2025.6 The committee was not the body that defended public school funding from the cuts. Appropriators did that. With muscle from parent and educator advocacy and bipartisan pressure.

§ 04Then they did it again

The administration's FY2027 budget, released in May 2026, proposes another 3% cut to the Department of Education, on top of the structural FY2026 reductions, with the same K-12 program eliminations re-proposed.7 Meanwhile $2 billion in already-appropriated K-12 and higher ed funding was being held back by the Office of Management and Budget as of May 2026.8

The committee has not held a single hearing on the impact of those withheld funds on the districts that depend on them.

Posturing is free. Cuts cost kids. The math, plainly

Stop the clown show. Get to work for kids.

The committee's job is to defend the money Congress appropriated for kids. Not to host theater. Tell your representative to demand a real oversight hearing on withheld funds and proposed cuts. Get the committee back to work.

Take Action Falling Behind →

Sources

  1. "Trump's FY26 budget would slash more than $4.5B from K-12," K-12 Dive, May 2, 2025. k12dive.com
  2. "Trump's Budget Proposal: A Blueprint for Dismantling K-12 Programs," National Association of Elementary School Principals analysis, June 13, 2025. naesp.org
  3. "Protect Our Classrooms," NABE / Rep. DeLauro warning on Title III. revedkc.substack.com
  4. S.Res.133, expressing support for local public K-12 schools. congress.gov
  5. "Congress Has Passed an Education Budget. See How Key Programs Are Affected," Education Week, February 3, 2026. edweek.org
  6. Federal Education Freedom Tax Credit Program, P.L. 119-21, signed July 4, 2025. Public summary
  7. "Trump Again Proposes Major Education Cuts in New Budget Proposal," Education Week, April 2026. edweek.org
  8. "Trump Holds Back $2 Billion for Education Grants," Education Week, May 2026. edweek.org