Published: June 19, 2026
- In March, a group of 21 states joined together and sued the Department of Agriculture (USDA), challenging new grant conditions that require recipients to certify that they will not use federal funds to “promote gender ideology” or provide “taxpayer- funded benefits” to undocumented individuals. With this, states collectively risk losing over $11.6 billion in funds to feed children through the Child Nutrition Program, which includes the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs.
- The Department of Education has recently announced an agreement to transfer all student aid and student loans to the Department of Treasury. The Treasury will now take over debt collection of defaulted student loans. Moving forward, the intent is for the Treasury to also assume responsibility over the entirety of loans as well as the federal student aid programs. This is the latest move in the administration’s efforts to close the Department of Education.
- Just this week, the Department of Education announced new priorities for school districts applying for grant programs. Starting May 13, the Department will prioritize grant applications for programs that aim to expand AI and its use in the classroom. Expanding the adoption of AI into education settings has been a priority of the Trump administration. This has been met with strong opposition, with opponents highlighting concern that AI is unstudied, unregulated, and has potential to be harmful to children.
- The Trump administration issued its proposed 2027 budget cut this month, requested $76.5 billion for education. This is a $2.3 billion dollar decrease from the 2026 budget. Of these cuts, $8.5 billion is estimated to be eliminated from K-12 funding. This will mainly be seen in various grant cuts, particularly in programs for English learning and migrant assistance.
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