All4Ed Flash: Back to 2011: How the Proposed Budget Turns Back the Clock on Education
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The proposed fiscal year 2026 budget significantly cuts education funding by $23.9 billion, impacting K-12 support and higher education. It eliminates crucial programs for low-income students, job training, and health protections, leading to a $32 billion shortfall compared to 2011 levels. Critics argue these cuts will harm students and families.
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On Monday, September 1, House Appropriations Committee Republicans released the draft fiscal year 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies funding bill. For 2026, the bill provides $197.5 billion, a cut of $23.9 billion – 11 percent – below 2025.
Here’s what this legislation does:
- Guts K–12 support by slashing Title I funding for low-income students, eliminating teacher training programs, and zeroing out support for community schools.
- Abandons both college students and workers by cutting need-based financial aid, job training, and adult education.
- Rolls back safeguards for workers by slashing funding for wage, health, and safety protections.
- Undermines health and wellbeing by slashing medical research, abandoning ongoing public health crises, and eliminating funding for reproductive health.
Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut said: “Republicans are continuing their full-scale attempt to eliminate public education… Instead of focusing on helping Americans deal with the high cost of living, this bill would hurt hardworking Americans trying to improve their lives through higher education or job training.”
This bill also rescinds funding that schools were already counting on. Nearly $2.6 billion in advance funding for Title I and Title II—meant to support classrooms starting October 1—would vanish. In fact, the cuts bring education spending below what Congress enacted 15 years ago, leaving schools almost $32 billion short of the 2011 level.
The deepest cut is to Title I, which faces a $4.7 billion, or 27 percent, reduction. When combined with additional program eliminations, the total Title I impact grows to $5.2 billion—including cuts not only to Title I-A for low-income students but also Title I-C for migrant students.
Republicans argue that “despite outsized investment, America’s public schools continue to fail children and families.”
Here’s the bottom line: these cuts would devastate classrooms, strip students of opportunity, threaten the health and wellbeing of families, and jeopardize our nation’s future workforce.
As Congress moves forward, All4Ed will continue to fight for investments that help students—especially those from underserved communities—achieve their full potential.
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