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These 12 States Are Most Affected By Federal Education Funding Cuts

Leo Migdal
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these 12 states are most affected by federal education funding cuts

Recent moves on both sides of the aisle show that lawmakers may not be in favor of the Trump administration’s agenda to reduce federal spending on public education. On July 31st, the bipartisan Senate Appropriations Committee voted 26-3 in favor of a bill that rejects most of Trump’s recommended $4.5 billion cuts to K-12 education and, in fact, increases funding to Title... Yet, with the budget not due to go into effect until October 1st (and the full Senate and House still needing to weigh in) there’s ample opportunity for federal cuts to go back on... And while the overall amount of money may not seem like a lot compared to total education funding, reductions, impoundments, and rescissions in federal education funding disproportionately impact some states, some schools, and some... Receive ERS’ latest research, analyses, district stories, and interactive tools. As we look ahead to two more months of discussion and debate, we analyzed three significant factors that affect how keenly each state experiences disruptions or reductions in federal funding:

With billions of dollars of federal education funding still on the table, experts predict that at least a dozen states will be severely impacted if Trump’s proposed cuts to K12 spending are put in... Last month, the bipartisan Senate Appropriations Committee voted 26-3 in favor of a bill rejecting the bulk of President Trump’s $4.5 billion cuts to K12 education. However, the budget bill doesn’t go into effect until Oct. 1, meaning there’s ample time for the full Senate and House to weigh in. Looking ahead to the next several weeks, educational consultant Education Resource Strategies predicts that at least a dozen states will face significant challenges as a result of deep federal cuts to education. These states include: Arkansas, Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia.

These states in particular are most vulnerable due to their proportion of high-needs districts (more than 30%), the number of students attending such districts (greater than 20%) and their reliance on federal funding (states... Take Mississippi, for example, where its schools receive nearly $1 billion annually in federal funding. Three-quarters of the state’s districts serve large numbers of children living in poverty, and more than half of students attend one of these higher-need districts, according to Education Resource Strategies. Have you ever felt like just when you start to catch a break, life throws another curveball? Well, that’s what’s happening to schools right now. Some states are about to lose a huge chunk of federal education money, and the timing couldn’t be worse.

Kids are still catching up from the pandemic, teachers are stretched thin, and suddenly the financial rug is being pulled out from under them. So, let’s sit down together and unpack this. I’ll walk you through which states are hurting the most, why these cuts sting so badly, and what this really means for students, teachers, and families like ours. Think of school funding like the oxygen tank in scuba diving. Take away too much, and suddenly, everyone’s gasping for air. Federal funding has been the lifeline for a lot of schools, especially since the pandemic hit.

Districts used this money to: Now, as this money dries up, many schools are left wondering, “How do we keep everything afloat?” When budgets shrink, the impact doesn’t just hit numbers on a spreadsheet—it shows up in classrooms. Imagine a teacher already juggling 25 students suddenly being told, “Hey, now it’s 30.” Or think about a kid finally getting counseling sessions, and then suddenly the program is gone. That’s the reality schools in these states are bracing for. The Trump administration terminated $106 million in K-12 education grant funding for Massachusetts.

But the Bay State wasn’t alone. The federal Department of Education pulled federal funding from states across the country through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund. In a statement on Tuesday, Mass. Gov. Maura Healey estimated the cuts at $2 billion across the country. Massachusetts ranked #9 among states whose funding was cut, as of January numbers.

A full list of states and what was cut appears at the bottom of this article. In the most up-to-date information available through the U.S. Department of Education, which tracks money spent through Jan. 31 of this year, states range in unspent ESSER money now canceled by the federal government from just $18,000 in Hawaii to more than $250 million in Pennsylvania. The fiscal uncertainty is due to states’ reliance on federal money and their proportions of high-need districts and students living in poverty, ERS says. A dozen states and their school districts are more vulnerable to federal funding rollbacks than others in K-12 because of their higher proportions of high-need districts and students living in poverty, according to an...

Another risk factor for the 12 states is their higher dependency on federal funding: 16% of Alaska's total education revenue, for example, came from the federal government in 2021-22. Nationally, 13.7% of public school funding came from the federal government that school year, according to USA Facts. According to ERS, there are 12 states that meet all three risk factors: Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. In addition to the three risk factors reviewed by ERS, states and public schools are facing myriad other funding pressures, including federal fiscal delays and cutbacks, the end of COVID-19 emergency aid and competition... President Trump signed an executive order last week that would begin the process of dismantling the Department of Education “once and for all.” “We’re going to eliminate it, and everybody knows it’s right,” Trump said during a signing ceremony on March 20.

“We’re not doing well with the world of education in this country, and we haven’t for a long time.” Trump’s order argues that the department’s functions “can, and should, be returned to the States.” Unlike some other Cabinet-level agencies that have broad, nationwide authority over the areas they oversee, the Education Department has a comparatively minor role in how education works in the United States. For the most part, schools across the country already have their policies set at the state and local level, which is also where the majority of funding comes from. The federal government provides just under 14% of the $857 billion spent nationally on K-12 public education, according to figures from the Education Data Initiative. Despite Trump’s order, there is a lot of uncertainty over what happens next.

He does not have the authority to unilaterally eliminate the agency. Only an act of Congress can do that. But Trump has already taken steps to shift some of the Education Department’s responsibilities to other agencies. All of this upheaval has raised serious questions about whether states will continue to receive money for schools from the federal government. A 50-state scan of 2025 state budgets and the estimated new budget without federal education funding If the Trump administration follows through with cuts to federal funding to the Department of Education, states could lose significant dollars.

This map shows the estimated 2025 state budget, how much money would be lost based on percent reduction, and the estimated new budget. Using the tool, you can select a funding theme, change the budget reduction with the slider, and hover for additional information. (Data pulled on 2/7/2025) EdTrust has created an interactive tool that shows what’s at stake for states if the budget proposal from Trump or the House is adopted for school districts across the country, including high-poverty, urban, and... Ever since Donald Trump took office on January 20, 2025, he and his administration have enacted harmful education policies that put our nation’s students at risk When education is interrupted, students, families, and teachers pay the price

A student draws with chalk on an outdoor court at a New York City public school in 2022. If states don’t receive billions in congressionally approved funding for K-12 education that the Trump administration is withholding, officials say programs for migrants, English-language learners and kids in need of after-school care will be... (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images) The U.S. Department of Education’s decision this week to hold back $6.8 billion in federal K-12 funds next year has triggered alarm among state education officials, school leaders and advocacy groups nationwide over how the lack... The Trump administration’s decision to freeze the funding has put states in “triage mode” as they scramble to decide what programs may be cut without that funding, said Mary Kusler, senior director for the...

The money was approved by Congress to support education for English language learners, migrants, low-income children and adults learning to read, among others. As of July 1, school systems are unable to draw down funding, jeopardizing summer programs, hiring and early-year planning for the 2025–26 school year. The funding freeze affects several core programs: Title II-A (educator training and recruitment), Title III-A (English learner support), Title IV-A (student enrichment and after-school), as well as migrant education and adult education and literacy... Trump has proposed eliminating all those programs in his proposed budget for next fiscal year, but that proposal hasn’t gone through Congress.

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