The president’s budget maintains Title I funding at $18.4 billion with no proposed cuts.

The proposal includes a reported $1.2 billion increase for IDEA, but this figure is structured in a way that includes both new funding and redirected funds. Specifically, the proposal includes $522 million in new IDEA funding and $678 million shifted from six existing IDEA subprograms:

Preschool Grant Program: $420 million Personnel Preparation: $115 million State Personnel Development: $39 million Technical Assistance: $39 million Parent Information Centers: $33 million Education Technology: $32 million

These subprograms would be eliminated and consolidated into IDEA State Grants. NAESP supports the $522 million increase but has concerns about cannibalizing existing funding and the elimination of the IDEA programs.

Concerns in the proposal The budget proposes eliminating or consolidating 30 K–12 programs, totaling over $8 billion. Title II funding is being proposed for elimination for the sixth straight year by the Trump administration.

The proposal also eliminates Title III English Learning Acquisition grants, Title IV-A Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants, Title IV-B after-school activities, TRIO, Full-Service Community Schools, State Assessments, and Rural Education programs, among others.

Proposed state block grant The budget proposes the creation of a new $2 billion state block grant that consolidates multiple federal education programs.

Under the proposed block grant, states would be required to spend 25 percent on literacy instruction, 25 percent on math instruction, 50 percent on any other ESSA-aligned activity. This represents a significant shift away from dedicated federal formula funding, and there are concerns about the resulting net loss of targeted support for K–12 education. Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins has already expressed opposition to the block grant proposal, making its enactment unlikely this year.

Senate appropriations hearing takeaways There is bipartisan concern regarding proposed cuts to rural education programs. Democrats also raised significant concerns about staffing and capacity within the Office for Civil Rights.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon indicated that the department may have reduced staffing too significantly and suggested that some civil rights lawyers may be rehired. House appropriations

NAESP submitted FY27 testimony to the House Appropriations Subcommittee in support of maintaining funding for federal pre-K-12 education programs.

The testimony called for maintaining funding for Head Start and Early Head Start, preserving all formula grant programs, and raising concerns about the interagency agreements.

The House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to vote on the education funding bill on June 5 (subcommittee) and June 8 (committee).

Special Education transfer discussion The Department of Education is still interested in transferring IDEA programs to another cabinet agency, with the Department of Labor frequently cited as a possible destination. The pending move has faced significant pushback from disability advocates and parent groups which is why in large part it hasn’t happened yet.

NAESP is participating in a coalition briefing on May 20 to highlight the potential problems of moving IDEA out of the Department of Education to make practitioners aware of the range of issues they need to be on the lookout for.

Title II sign-on letter NAESP helped draft a national and state sign-on letter with our coalition partners in support of the Title II-Part A program and funding to be sent to all congressional offices. An action alert will follow the letter’s release to further encourage support for maintaining formula funding programs.

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