It’s crossover week at the General Assembly, so it’s been busy in Raleigh. We continue to sort through details of which bills have moved prior to the May 8 deadline, and will be back next week with further analysis on the over 130 K12 education bills filed this session. This week, we turn our attention to President Trump’s initial budget proposal– or “skinny budget”– for fiscal year (FY) 2026.
As we await further movement on the North Carolina budget process, the annual federal budget appropriations process kicked off last week. President Trump released his initial budget request, also known as a “skinny budget,” as it does not contain the full details that will be available in the still-to-come full budget proposal.
The Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) budget request from the president contains steep cuts to a number of education programs and funding streams, posing significant risks for our schools and students. The request consolidates 18 existing programs under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) into a $2 billion “K-12 Simplified Funding Program.” The details of this 70% cut in education funding (a $4.5 billion decrease) have not yet been released, but observers have noted that Title II and Title IV, Part A are likely included, as such a large cut would be difficult to achieve otherwise. This would mean the likely elimination of all afterschool and summer funding that serves 1.4 million students nationwide and over 37,000 in North Carolina through 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC). The budget proposal also eliminates Migrant education funding and Title III, which provides funding for Language Instruction for English Learners and Immigrant students. Notably, the only increase included in the education budget is for charter schools.
Conversation and negotiation on these and many other budget requests will continue over the coming months. Similar to how NC legislators review the Governor’s budget request before proposing their own, Congress will review the President’s request before releasing their own budget bills. The goal for a finalized federal budget is October 1.
Leave a Reply