President Donald Trump’s 2026 budget proposal includes making $10.7 billion in cuts to more than a dozen programs, grants, and offices at the Education Department, with the exceptions of school choice and special education.
Through Trump’s “skinny budget,” the Education Department is seeking to free up federal dollars from being spent on bureaucracy in an effort to give back more funding to the state level.
“President Trump’s proposed budget puts students and parents above the bureaucracy,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement. “It reflects the historic mandate I have been given to serve as the final Secretary of Education. The federal government has invested trillions of taxpayer dollars into an education system that is not driving improved student outcomes – we must change course and reorient taxpayer dollars toward proven programs that generate results for American students.”
Trump is seeking to make school choice more accessible through his proposal by boosting the budget for charter schools to $60 million, citing concerns that the vast majority of public eighth grade students are failing to meet benchmark standards. The administration criticized the current education structure as a “one-size-fits-all system” that has caused greater difficulties for states to deliver the best education to students, presenting a need for more school options.
Brian Jodice, the national press secretary of the American Federation for Children, called Trump “the school choice president” in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
“He is taking the necessary steps to return education to the states and empower parents and families across America with school choice,” Jodice said. “It is not surprising that he is supporting public charter schools and Congress can soon make good on the cornerstone of his education freedom agenda by bringing school choice to every state with the Educational Choice for Children Act.”
The administration also made no cuts to special education program funding.
Trump signed a January executive order mandating that the Education Department work with states on how they can use “federal funding formulas to support their K-12 programs.”
The skinny budget includes cuts to 18 formula K-12 grant programs and seven Individuals with Disabilities Act programs, consolidating them into two funding streams. Cuts were also made to programs such as the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants and Teaching Quality Partnerships over concerns that they were pushing “radical leftist ideology.”
A 35% budget cut was made to the Office for Civil Rights, which has taken a large role in investigating campus antisemitism following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks, as well.
Trump also proposed a 30% reduction for program administration following his efforts to reduce and eventually abolish the Education Department.
WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO KEY EDUCATION DEPARTMENT PROGRAMS IF TRUMP SHUTS IT DOWN
“The President’s Skinny Budget reflects funding levels for an agency that is responsibly winding down, shifting some responsibilities to the states, and thoughtfully preparing a plan to delegate other critical functions to more appropriate entities,” McMahon said in a statement. “It supports the President’s vision of expanding school choice and ensuring every American has access to an excellent education.”
In March, Trump signed an executive order attempting to begin the dismantling of the Education Department, moving some key responsibilities to other departments. However, abolishing the Education Department would require congressional approval.
