The House budget proposes some deep and damaging cuts to education. Meg White gets into the lowlights.
House Majority leaders released their FY26 education bill, slashing $12.1 billion (15%) in K-12 funding for public education. It guts key programs that support our public schools — while boosting charter start-up/expansion to $500,000,000.
What they’re cutting
- Title I: –27% slashed — funding that provides targeted education services like remedial reading to students with maximum impact in high-poverty schools in cities and rural communities.
- English Language Acquisition Grants: Eliminated.
- Title II-A (teacher training & support): Eliminated.
- Full-Service Community Schools: Zeroed out.
For 2026, the bill provides $197.5 billion, a cut of $23.9 billion – 11 %– below 2025. The legislation decimates support for children in K-12 elementary schools by slashing funding for low-income students, eliminating funding for teacher training, and eliminating funding for community schools. the bill also eliminates funding for need-based financial aid, adult job training, and adult education.
House leaders claim that, “Despite outsized investment, America’s public schools continue to fail children and families”. Carol Burris, Director of the Network for Public Education responded, “This is not fiscal prudence. It is a calculated political attack on our public schools, while increasing funding to open new charter schools to half a billion dollars a year” (finance.yahoo.com).
NPE warns that the consequences will be catastrophic. Class size will increase. Support for struggling students will diminish. Inequities will deepen. Rural and high-need communities will be hit hardest, as lifeline programs are dismantled.