Federal Budget/Funding

Read more about how much federal money is spent on K-12 education and its impact
U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon is interviewed by Indiana’s Secretary of Education Katie Jenner during the 2025 Reagan Institute Summit on Education in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 18, 2025.
U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, pictured here in Washington on Sept. 18, 2025, has granted Iowa a partial waiver from provisions of the Every Student Succeeds Act, saying the move is a step toward the Trump administration's goal of "returning education to the states." The waiver allows Iowa some additional flexibility in how it spends the limited portion of federal education funds used by the state department of education.
Leah Millis for Education Week
States McMahon Touts Funding Flexibility for Iowa That Falls Short of Trump Admin. Goal
The Ed. Dept. is allowing the state education agency to consolidate small sets of funds from four grants.
Mark Lieberman, January 7, 2026
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6 min read
A black female teacher cheerfully answers questions and provides assistance to her curious and diverse group of adolescent students as they work on an assignment in class.
E+/Getty
Teacher Preparation A Local Campaign Saved This Teacher Residency After the Ed. Dept. Pulled Funding
Local donations protected teachers left hanging after the program lost a grant.
Sarah D. Sparks, January 6, 2026
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4 min read
Stephon Thompson, an administrator at Stevenson Elementary School, directs students through the doors at the beginning of the school day in Southfield, Mich., on Feb. 28, 2024.
Stephon Thompson directs students through the doors at the beginning of the school day at Stevenson Elementary School in Southfield, Mich., on Feb. 28, 2024. The school has added on-site social services in recent years as a community school. The Trump administration has recently discontinued 19 federal grants that help schools become local service hubs for students and their families.
Samuel Trotter for Education Week
Education Funding Educator Layoffs Loom as Canceled Community Schools Grants Remain in Limbo
Three legal challenges and bipartisan backlash have followed the Trump administration's funding cuts.
Mark Lieberman, January 6, 2026
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5 min read
Illustration in blue of huge hands holding money as silhouette people run towards it.
iStock/Getty
Education Funding Video School Funding: The 3 Big Questions to Watch in 2026
2025 was a disruptive year for school funding, here's what we're anticipating in the year ahead.
Mark Lieberman & Yi-Jo Shen, January 6, 2026
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2:13
Randi Weingarten speaks at a press conference at Murrell Dobbins Career & Technical Education High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 2, 2025.
Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, speaks at a press conference in Philadelphia on Sept. 2, 2025. Weingarten says that cuts to federal education funds by the Trump administration "are only hurting young people."
Rachel Wisniewski for Education Week
Education Funding ‘Terminated on a Whim’: The AFT Sues Trump’s Ed. Dept. Over Funding Cuts
The AFT and a Chicago-area nonprofit argue the cuts happened without following required procedures.
Lauraine Langreo & Caitlynn Peetz Stephens, December 30, 2025
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4 min read
Reducing, removing or overcoming financial barriers, financial concept : US dollar bag on a maze puzzle.
William Potter/iStock
Education Funding School Mental Health Projects Canceled by Trump Might Still Survive
The end of funding could still be days away, but a new court order offers some hope for grantees.
Matthew Stone, December 24, 2025
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6 min read
President Ford at work in the Oval Office on Jan. 27, 1976.
President Gerald Ford, pictured in the Oval Office on Jan. 27, 1976, signed into law the predecessor to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 1975.
Courtesy of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library & Museum
Special Education 50 Years of IDEA: 4 Things to Know About the Landmark Special Education Law
The nation's primary special education law details schools' obligations to students with disabilities.
Evie Blad, December 19, 2025
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5 min read
Genesis Olivio and her daughter Arlette, 2, read a book together in a room within the community hub at John H. Amesse Elementary School on March 13, 2024 in Denver. Denver Public Schools has six community hubs across the district that have serviced 3,000 new students since October 2023. Each community hub has different resources for families and students catering to what the community needs.
Genesis Olivio and daughter Arlette, 2, read a book in one of Denver Public Schools' community hubs in March 2024. The community hubs, which offer food pantries, GED classes, and other services, are similar to what schools across the country have developed with the help of federal Community Schools grants, many of which the U.S. Department of Education has prematurely terminated.
Rebecca Slezak For Education Week
Education Funding 'A Gut Punch’: What Trump’s New $168 Million Cut Means for Community Schools
School districts in 11 states will imminently lose federal funds that help them cover staff salaries.
Mark Lieberman, December 18, 2025
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10 min read
Parents attend a basic facts bee at Stevenson Elementary School in Southfield, Mich., on Feb. 28, 2024.
Parents attend a "basic facts" bee at Stevenson Elementary School in Southfield, Mich., on Feb. 28, 2024. The school has been a recipient of a federal Full-Services Community Schools grant that has allowed it to add an on-site health clinic, a parent-resource room, a therapy dog, and other services parents would otherwise have to seek elsewhere.
Samuel Trotter for Education Week
Education Funding Federal Funds for Community Schools Fall Victim to a New Round of Trump Cuts
The latest round of grant cuts hits a program that helps schools provide more social services on site.
Mark Lieberman, December 15, 2025
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6 min read
2 silhouetted figures dismantle the Department of Education Seal and carry away the parts.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week + DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
Education Funding Education Week's 2025 Word of the Year Is ...
Trump's efforts to reshape the federal role in education caused uncertainty for schools.
Evie Blad & Mark Lieberman, December 12, 2025
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6 min read
Country school; Iowa.
iStock/Getty
Education Funding Congress Revived a Fund for Rural Schools. Their Struggles Aren't Over
Federal funds will again flow to districts with national forest land—but broader funding uncertainties remain.
Mark Lieberman, December 12, 2025
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6 min read
Image of hands taking care of a student with a money symbol in the background.
Getty and Education Week
Education Funding Amid Cancellations and Legal Fights, Trump Admin. Awards New Mental Health Grants
The grants came from a competition the Ed. Dept. redesigned to erase Biden administration priorities.
Matthew Stone, December 11, 2025
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3 min read
A student visits a sensory room at a Topeka, KS elementary school, on Nov. 3, 2021.
A student visits a sensory room at an elementary school in Topeka, Kan., on Nov. 3, 2021. Schools have expanded their student mental health services in recent years, many with support from hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants that the Trump administration pulled earlier this year and have since been caught up in legal proceedings.
Charlie Riedel/AP
Education Funding A Guide to Where School Mental Health Grants Stand After a New Legal Twist
Temporary relief for one set of projects raises questions for other initiatives vying for federal money.
Matthew Stone, December 8, 2025
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5 min read
Illustration of dollar symbol in rollercoaster.
iStock
Education Funding Funding Ends for School Mental Health Projects After a 'Roller Coaster' Year
Schools, universities, and others thought they had five years to boost student mental health services.
Matthew Stone, December 2, 2025
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11 min read
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