Plans to close the U.S. Department of Education have come with repeated assurances from President Donald Trump and Education Secretary Linda McMahon that federal dollars will continue to flow and services to students will not be disrupted. But a first look at what’s called a “skinny budget” shows cuts to line item after line item in education — a 15.3% decrease in funding, from $78.7 billion to $66.7 billion, according to Table 2 of the request.

It is called skinny because it does not include the forthcoming appropriations bill language.

This proposed budget continues the process of shutting down the U.S. Department of Education.

The only increase is for charter schools, which would receive $500 million, an increase of $60 million.

The budget overview says, “The Budget maintains full funding for Title I, which provides Federal financial assistance to school districts for children from low-income families, and special education funding under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).”

But “to limit the Federal role in education, and provide States with more flexibility, the Budget creates a new K-12 Simplified Funding Program that consolidates 18 competitive and formula grant programs into a new formula grant, and a Special Education Simplified Funding Program that consolidates seven IDEA programs into a single grant.”

Trump released his administration’s FY 2026 Discretionary Budget Request to the Senate’s Committee on Appropriations last week. A letter submitted to the committee said the recommendations were being presented ahead of a full fiscal plan but after a line-by-line review of the previous budget and in consideration of whether services could be provided better by local or state governments.

McMahon said, “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.”

You can read the full budget here. The following is a list of the education changes. Note that the language is pulled from the materials released by the administration.

Program Name	$ Change from 2025 Enacted (in millions)	The Administration’s Brief Descriptions of Program and Recommended Reductions
Increase
Charter Schools	60	According to this year’s National Assessment of Educational Progress, 70 percent of 8th graders are below proficient in reading, and 72 percent are below proficient in math. Federal control has replaced local decision-making, creating a one-size-fits-all system that is decimating student achievement. This centralized approach has weakened States’ ability to deliver quality education and eroded parents’ direction of their children’s education. More local school options are needed, so the Budget invests $500 million, a $60 million increase, to expand the number of high-quality charter schools, which have a proven track record of improving students’ academic achievement and giving parents more choice in the education of their children.
Cuts, Reductions, and Consolidations
Preserve Title I and Streamline K-12 Programs	-4,535	The Budget provides streamlined, flexible funding directly to States so that they have the discretion to support those activities that make the most sense for their respective communities. This long-overdue consolidation would lower substantially the costs of both administration and compliance, and ensure that a greater proportion of the funds provides support for students and their families. The K-12 Simplified Funding Program consolidates 18 competitive and formula grant programs into a new $2 billion formula grant designed to reduce ED’s influence on schools and students and reduce bureaucracy. At the same time, the Budget delivers on the President’s promise by preserving full funding for Title I, the supplemental Federal financial assistance to school districts for children from low-income families. This new, simplified funding structure requires fewer Federal staff and empowers States and districts to make spending decisions based on their needs, consistent with the recent reduction in workforce and Executive Orders. The new approach allows States and districts to focus on the core subjects—math, reading, science, and history—without the distractions of DEI and weaponization from the previous administration.
Special Education Simplified Funding Program	No amount listed	The Budget delivers on the President’s promise to preserve special education funding, while simplifying the workload to reduce the Federal footprint. The Special Education Simplified Funding Program consolidates seven Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) programs to provide States and school districts greater flexibility to support students with special education needs, maintaining funding at the 2025 level. The consolidation furthers the Administration’s goal of limiting the Federal role in education by reducing the number of programs at ED, the number of staff needed to administer them, and the administrative burden on States so more dollars go to students instead of bureaucrats. Parents of students with disabilities would remain empowered to direct these funds because the Federal IDEA law would remain in place; maintaining a base set of Federal funds means they can also be withdrawn from States and districts who flout parental rights.
TRIO programs and Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP)	-1,579	TRIO and GEAR UP are a relic of the past when financial incentives were needed to motivate Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) to engage with low-income students and increase access. The lack of action by IHEs also meant that States and local school districts needed additional support to prepare low-income students for college. Today, the pendulum has swung and access to college is not the obstacle it was for students of limited means. IHEs should be using their own resources to engage with K-12 schools in their communities to recruit students, and then once those students are on campus, aid in their success through to graduation. A renewed focus on academics and scholastic accomplishment by IHEs, rather than engaging in woke ideology with Federal taxpayer subsidies, would be a welcome change for students and the future of the Nation.
Federal Work-Study (FWS)	-980	The Budget returns FWS to the States and IHEs that financially benefit from it—consistent with the Administration’s efforts to move decisions closer to students and reduce the Federal footprint. In its current form, FWS is a handout to woke universities and a subsidy from Federal taxpayers, who can pay for their own employees. Reform of this poorly targeted program should redistribute remaining funding to institutions that serve the most low-income students and provide a wage subsidy to gain career-oriented opportunities to improve long-term employment outcomes of students.
Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG)	-910	SEOG contributes to rising college costs that IHEs have used to fund radical leftist ideology instead of investing in students and their success. It is duplicative of, and less targeted than, Pell Grants. For example, undergraduate students with higher family incomes receive a larger award on average than similarly situated undergraduates with the lowest family income level ($1,019 compared to $891). In addition, nearly 40 percent of SEOG aid is awarded through private institutions who have their own agendas and fewer low-income students, compared to the only 19 percent awarded through public, two-year colleges, which serve the highest proportion of low-income students. This program is ineffective, poorly targeted, and inconsistent with the Administration’s priorities.
English Language Acquisition	-890	To end overreach from Washington and restore the rightful role of State oversight in education, the Budget proposes to eliminate the misnamed English Language Acquisition program which actually deemphasizes English primacy by funding NGOs and States to encourage bilingualism. The historically low reading scores for all students mean States and communities need to unite—not divide—classrooms using evidence-based literacy instruction materials to improve outcomes for all students.
Adult Education	-729	K-12 outcomes will improve as education returns to the States, which would make remedial education for adults less necessary. The Budget redirects resources to programs that more directly prepare students for meaningful careers. This reallocation would also better support the innovative, workforce-aligned, apprenticeship-focused activities the Department seeks to promote through strategic investments in the current fiscal year. Further, this program has dismal results—in the most recent reported year, only 43 percent of participants had any measurable skills gains.
Migrant Education and Special Programs for Migrant Students	-428	The Budget eliminates programs that work to the detriment of children’s academic success by encouraging movement from, rather than stability and consistency in, a single location. These programs have not been proven effective, are extremely costly, and encourage ineligible non-citizens to access U.S. IHEs, stripping resources from American students.
ED Program Administration	-127	As the Department winds down its operations and reduces its workforce, the Budget provides $293 million for program administration, a reduction of $127 million, or 30 percent. Although this amount does reflect the considerably reduced need for staff, costs remain. Program Administration funding is needed for: personnel compensation and benefits for staff retained; fixed and variable costs in non-personnel categories; and costs from deferred resignations, voluntary retirements, and reductions in force.
Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Ed (FIPSE) and Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need	-195	IHEs and States—not the Federal Government—should be responsible for funding institutional reforms and innovative programs. These additional resources have allowed colleges and universities to fund ideologies instead of students, while still raising tuition costs. The Congress has also abused FIPSE by using it to fund initiatives unrelated to students or institutional reforms, including earmarking $1.2 million for San Diego Community College’s LGBTQIA+ PRIDE Center staffing.
Strengthening Institutions	-112	Again, IHEs with their States and local communities—not the Federal Government—should be responsible for fiscal health of an institution and promoting student success. These funds have been used to promote DEI, inconsistent with the Administration’s priorities and Executive Orders. It is not the responsibility of Federal taxpayers to support a new “Guided Pathways Village, expanding the current Learning Communities and creating a new Ethnic and Pride Inclusion Center for historically underserved students, including LGBTQ+ students.”
Teacher Quality Partnerships	-70	The Budget proposes to end Federal taxpayer dollars being weaponized to indoctrinate new teachers. Institutional and nonprofit grantees have used these taxpayer funds to train teachers and education agencies on divisive ideologies. Training materials included inappropriate and unnecessary topics such as: Critical Race Theory; DEI; social justice activism; “anti-racism”; and instruction on white privilege and white supremacy. In addition, many of these grants included teacher and staff recruiting strategies implicitly and explicitly based on race. Examples from the grant applications included: •requiring practitioners to take personal and institutional responsibility for systemic inequities (e.g., racism) and critically reassess their own practices; •receiving professional development workshops and equity training on topics such as “Building Cultural Competence,” “Dismantling Racial Bias,” and “Centering Equity in the Classroom”; acknowledging and responding to systemic forms of oppression and inequity, including racism, ableism, “gender-based” discrimination, homophobia, and ageism; •building historical and sociopolitical understandings of race and racism to interrupt racial marginalization and oppression of students in planning instruction relationship building discipline and assessment; •providing “targeted practices in culturally relevant and responsive teaching abolitionist pedagogies and issues of diversity in classroom management;” and •providing spaces for critical reflection to help educators confront biases and have transformative conversations about equity. Eliminating this program would allow States and districts to have more control of teacher preparation, recruitment, and retention based on their local context. Eliminating this program would allow States and districts to have more control of teacher preparation, recruitment, and retention based on their local context.
Training and Advisory Services— Equity Assistance Centers	-7	The Budget eliminates Equity Assistance Centers that have indoctrinated children. Funds have been weaponized to force local districts to implement Washington-directed DEI practices against their will. Consistent with the Administration’s priority to return control of education to States and districts, ending this program would restore rightful merit-based practices at school and ensure districts do not have to implement weaponized, woke policies. The program is also ineffective and has continuously failed to meet most performance measures.
Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS)	-75	The Budget proposes to eliminate CCAMPIS because subsidizing child care for parents in college is unaffordable and duplicative. Funding can instead be secured through the Child Care Development Block Grant. Further, IHEs could offer to accommodate this need among their student population, and many do.
Howard University	-64	The Budget reduces funding for Howard University to the 2021 Budget level to more sustainably support the Nation’s only federally-chartered Historically Black College and University (HBCU). The 2025 enacted amount included the conclusion of a one-time $300 million, multiyear Federal commitment to the construction of their new hospital.
Office for Civil Rights (OCR)	-49	To refocus away from DEI and Title IX transgender cases, the Budget provides OCR with $91 million, a reduction of $49 million, or 35 percent, compared to the 2024 enacted level. After clearing through a massive backlog in 2025, this rightsizing is consistent with the reduction across the Department and an overall smaller Federal role in K-12 and postsecondary education. At this funding level, OCR would continue to ensure that schools and other institutions that receive Federal financial assistance for education programs and activities comply with Federal civil rights laws and Presidential Executive Orders while removing their ability to push DEI programs and promote radical transgender ideology.

Resources

• The White House landing page on the budget request, with links to additional information
• The President’s FY 2026 Discretionary Budget Request, which includes a letter to the Senate’s Committee on Appropriations and by agency a detailed listing of the specific recommended changes
• The overview of the budget request
• McMahon’s statement