Major Changes to Education Programs at the Federal Level (5.3.2025)

Programs directly funding educator preparation are highlighted below.

Elementary and Secondary Education Recommendations

• Preserve funding for Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education ACT (ESEA) at the current level, but consolidate competitive and formula programs into a single $2 billion formula grant, cutting total funding by $4.5 billion. Although unspecified, it appears that this consolidation will include both the Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) and Teacher and School Leader Incentive Grants (TSL).
• Preserve funding for special education at the current level, but consolidate all programs (including Part D Personnel Preparation) into a single state grant program, with state and district discretion as to how those funds are allocated.
• Eliminate all funding for English language acquisition, adult education, and migrant education programs as well as Equity Assistance Centers.

Postsecondary Education Recommendations

•  Eliminate funding for Teacher Quality Partnership grants, which the budget document accuses of “weaponizing” taxpayer dollars to “indoctrinate new teachers” on “divisive ideologies,” including “inappropriate and unnecessary topics such as: Critical Race Theory; DEI; social justice activism; ‘anti-racism’; and instruction on white privilege and white supremacy.”  
• Cut most funding for the Federal Work-study program and eliminate all funding for Supplement Education Opportunity Grant financial aid program.
• Eliminate funding for TRIO and GEAR-UP, Child Care Access Means Parents in School, Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) and Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need.
• Eliminate funding for the Strengthening Institutions program, but is silent on programs benefiting HBCUs, tribally-controlled colleges and universities, and other minority-serving institutions.

Education Programs in Other Agencies

• Health and Human Services: Eliminate Preschool Development Grants and cut funding for the National Institute of Health by almost $18 billion, which will likely impact grants related to education.
• Labor: Consolidate a number of Department of Labor Grant programs, reducing funding by $1.64 billion, in the name of greater state flexibility. Require states to spend at least 10% of their “MASA” grants on apprenticeships, with a justification that these programs “offer a valuable alternative to college.”
• NASA:  Eliminate funding for the Office of STEM Engagement, which funds educational programs
• National Science Foundation: Cut the general research and education fund by $3.48 billion, which is likely to include STEM education grants and projects, and eliminate funding for all DEI-related programs at NSF.
• Eliminate All Funding for the Following Agencies:
  •     Corporation for National and Community Service (AmeriCorps)
  •     Corporation for Public Broadcasting
  •     Institute of Museum and Library Sciences
  •     National Endowment for the Arts
  •     National Endowment for the Humanities