Federal Budget/Funding

Read more about how much federal money is spent on K-12 education and its impact
Director of the United States Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought walks down a staircase on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, July 16, 2026.
Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, walks down a staircase on Capitol Hill in Washington on July 16, 2026. The OMB withheld millions of dollars from the U.S. Department of Education's research arm for months, raising the possibility it wouldn't spend the money on education research and data collection in time for its Sept. 30, 2026, expiration.
Allison Robbert/AP
Education Funding Ed. Dept. Meets Research Spending Deadline—But Bigger Funding Challenges Loom
The Institute of Education Sciences finished spending more than $170 million set to expire Sept. 30.
Mark Lieberman, September 30, 2026
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3 min read
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., center, confers with Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, talk following a Senate Democratic Caucus meeting, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026.
Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, (right, speaking with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer) secured a commitment from Education Secretary Linda McMahon to supply additional funding for Native Hawaiian Education Program grantees when the U.S. Department of Education hadn't launched a competition for new grants. The Trump administration practice of abruptly canceling existing competitive education grants has slowed, but the Education Department is using procedures that result in fewer new grants and less stability for funding recipients.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Education Funding Trump's Ed. Dept. Is Still Disrupting Grants—Just More Quietly Than Before
The agency is deploying subtler procedures that result in fewer new grants and less stability for recipients.
Mark Lieberman, September 30, 2026
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11 min read
Russell Vought, acting director, Office of Management and Budget, right, and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin listen during a cabinet meeting, Friday, July 31, 2026, at Camp David, the presidential retreat, near Thurmont, Md., Friday, July 31, 2026.
Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management, listens during a Cabinet meeting on July 31, 2026, at Camp David, the presidential retreat, near Thurmont, Md. The White House has announced an $810 million package of "pocket rescissions," saying it won't spend the congressionally appropriated funds before the end of the 2026 federal fiscal year, which ends Wednesday. The rescissions include nearly $100 million for U.S. Department of Education program.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP 
Education Funding Trump, Bucking Congress Yet Again, Cancels $100 Million for Education
A "pocket rescission" hits programs for migratory farmworkers and college-level language instruction.
Mark Lieberman, September 28, 2026
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7 min read
Education Week opinion letters submissions
Gwen Keraval for Education Week
Education Funding Letter to the Editor Expired Funds, Unreliability Harm Rural Schools
Responsible planning requires predictable funding, says a school district superintendent.
September 25, 2026
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1 min read
Collage of Trump signing an executive order, money, desks, torn paper, legal pad.
Collage by Laura Baker/Education Week with Getty + Evan Vucci/AP
Education Funding Trump's Education Funding Maneuvers Were Illegal, Judges Rule
Judges ruled in suits about teacher-training grant cancellations and withheld education research money.
Mark Lieberman, September 18, 2026
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4 min read
President Donald Trump, center right, walks with Education Secretary Linda McMahon, center left, and guests after a back to school event in the Rose Garden of the White House, Monday, Aug. 24, 2026, in Washington.
President Donald Trump, center right, walks with Education Secretary Linda McMahon, center left, and guests after a back-to-school event in the Rose Garden of the White House on Monday, Aug. 24, 2026, in Washington. A new report envisions a number of scenarios in which the new federal school choice program launching next year could become one of the nation's largest K-12 funding streams.
Alex Brandon/AP
School Choice & Charters Could Trump's School Choice Program Rival Title I or IDEA in Size?
A new report looks at how much money could be raised under different scenarios.
Arianna Prothero, September 10, 2026
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6 min read
Russell Vought, Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) testifies on the OMB budget during a House Appropriations Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on June 4, 2025.
Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, testifies during a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on June 4, 2025. OMB has been slow to release congressionally appropriated funding to the Institute of Education Sciences, the U.S. Department of Education's research arm. IES now has just weeks to spend $180 million before it expires.
SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images
Education Funding Ed. Dept. Risks Letting $180 Million for Research Expire as Deadline Looms
Spending by the agency's research arm has lagged most significantly compared with previous years.
Mark Lieberman, September 2, 2026
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6 min read
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., arrives for a closed-door meeting with Republican lawmakers as he prepares for a vote on a stopgap spending bill to keep the federal government fully funded through early December, avoiding the possibility of a shutdown before the midterm elections, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., arrives for a closed-door meeting with Republican lawmakers at the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 1, 2026, as he prepares for a vote on a stopgap spending bill to keep the federal government fully funded through early December, avoiding the possibility of a shutdown before the midterm elections. The continuing resolution carries over the current year's funding levels for education programs into the first two months of the federal fiscal year that starts Oct. 1.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Education Funding Averting a Shutdown, Congress Punts Federal Spending Decisions to December
Federal funding talks will continue into December as Congress agrees to avoid a shutdown.
Mark Lieberman, September 1, 2026
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2 min read
A student participates in a reading and writing lesson at the Head Start program at Easterseals South Florida, an organization gets about a third of its funding from the federal government, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, in Miami.
A student participates in a reading and writing lesson at the Head Start program at Easterseals South Florida, an organization gets about a third of its funding from the federal government in Miami on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. As it seeks to scale back regulations governing Head Start, the Trump administration has stalled competitions for programs awaiting renewed funding.
Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo
Early Childhood Head Start Providers Struggle as Trump Admin. Holds Up Funding Competitions
At least 85 Head Start providers serving more than 39,000 children across 38 states are in limbo.
Caitlynn Peetz Stephens & Mark Lieberman, August 18, 2026
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9 min read
A sign from the General Services Administration is posted outside of the Department of Education headquarters in Washington, D.C. on Friday, July 17, 2026.
A sign installed by the General Services Administration is posted outside the Department of Education headquarters in Washington on July 17, 2026. Despite shifting its programs to other agencies, the Education Department will send billions of dollars in formula funds for schools through its own grants portal on Oct. 1, rather than a portal run by the Department of Labor.
Eric Lee for Education Week
Education Funding Education Department Will Keep Sending Most K-12 Funds Through Its Own System
The agency will send formula funds through its own system again despite program shifts to other agencies.
Mark Lieberman, August 17, 2026
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5 min read
The Department of Education headquarters in Washington, D.C. on Friday, July 17, 2026.
The Department of Education headquarters in Washington on Friday, July 17, 2026. Federal funding for education research may be starting to flow, even as the overall spending picture remains unclear.
Eric Lee for Education Week
Federal After Months of Standstill, Ed. Dept. Announces New Federal Research Funding
The agency outlined its fiscal 2027 grantmaking amid questions about its sluggish spending.
Stephen Sawchuk & Mark Lieberman, August 11, 2026
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7 min read
The U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. on Friday, July 17, 2026.
The U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. on Friday, July 17, 2026.
Eric Lee for Education Week
Education Funding Video What's in Store for School Funding for 2026-27?
A new education tax credit, federal budget negotiations, and more are in store.
Mark Lieberman, Marvin Joseph & Yi-Jo Shen, August 5, 2026
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1 min read
A collage-style illustration of images of the U.S. Department of Education building, the U.S. Capitol building, and dollar bills on top of a wooden school desktop with a pencil on it and a school bus underneath. The dollar bills appear to have been punched out with a hole punch in a few areas, and those missing circles are sprinkled on the desk and school bus below.
Illustration by Emily Wright for Education Week + Getty
Education Funding Trump's Education Department Is Letting Tens of Millions of Dollars Expire
Education Week found the agency didn't spend its full budget last year and appears on track to do so again.
Mark Lieberman, August 4, 2026
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10 min read
An illustration of three school leaders at a desk and one is holding an umbrella. They are all looking up into the sky where a sun is peeking through several clouds that are depicting dollar bills.
Illustration by Robert Neubecker for Education Week
Education Funding From the Feds on Down, School Funding Is Uncertain. What to Know
Federal turbulence during the Trump administration highlights the precarity of state and local funding, too.
Mark Lieberman, August 3, 2026
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7 min read