This article is part of an ongoing collaboration between Chalkbeat and THE CITY.
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New York City parents and school leaders are fearful that President Donald Trump’s administration could cut into the roughly $2 billion the federal government sends to the nation’s largest school system each year.
The U.S. Department of Education cut its workforce in half on Wednesday, and an executive order to dismantle the department entirely is expected to follow.
Trump has long called to dissolve the U.S. Department of Education — starting in his first term. And newly confirmed Secretary of Education Linda McMahon seems poised to help, sending an internal memo to her staff last week where she described the department’s “final mission.”
“My vision is aligned with the President’s: to send education back to the states and empower all parents to choose an excellent education for their children,” she wrote in the letter.
But how Trump might achieve his goal to close the department is not straightforward: Only Congress has the authority to take such action. Still, with a gutted department, educators and advocates worry that major funding cuts will be on the horizon.
“We’ve all been looking at the alignment of the Project 2025 playbook and the first… weeks of the new administration,” Aaron Pallas, a professor of sociology and education at Teachers College, told Chalkbeat last week. Project 2025 calls for the gradual phasing out of certain funding from the federal government, he added.
Federal funding made up about 5% – or $2.2 billion – of New York City Public Schools’ budget for fiscal year 2025, which ends on June 30, according to the city’s adopted budget. (That includes COVID relief money, which was set to expire next year regardless.)
The city Education Department’s share of federal education funds is split across several grant programs targeting students from low-income households, those living in shelters, or students with disabilities, for example.
The Trump administration has already taken steps to withhold funding from certain programs. The department’s Office of Civil Rights sent a Dear Colleague letter last month to schools stating that they must forgo their diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, programs and activities to continue receiving federal aid. The DOE also launched an “End DEI” portal on its website. The directive has garnered pushback, including in lawsuits brought by multiple civil rights groups, and several attorneys general, led by New York’s Letitia James, issued their own guidance to schools.
In addition to abolishing the department, Trump and other conservative federal lawmakers have called for civil rights enforcement and major grant programs, such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, to be transferred to other departments within the federal government while other programs might be passed onto states.
Various scenarios could play out: Title 1 funding for high poverty schools and funding for students with disabilities could remain untouched — or they could be swept into broader budget cuts, converted into block grants given as a lump sum to states to spend as they see fit, or reduced by Trump’s push to steer more federal funding to private school vouchers.
While it’s unclear what will actually happen to the federal funding that the Education Department currently allocates, below are some of the highest-funded grant programs that the NYC Department of Education currently receives from the federal government, which could be at risk if the Trump administration restricts certain funds or calls for dramatic cuts:
ESSA, Title I ($679.1 million)
The Every Student Succeeds Act calls for students from low-income families to receive “fair, equitable and high-quality” education, according to the law. Federal dollars to support such students come from the Title I program.
The city’s Education Department has received more than $679 million from Title I so far this fiscal year, accounting for about a third of the department’s federal education revenue. It’s the largest source of federal funding to local districts.
Though federal law says schools must have at least a 40% poverty rate to qualify for the funds, districts have some freedom to set their thresholds, and in New York City, Title 1 schools serve at least 60% of students from low-income families. The money pays for costs including the salaries of paraprofessionals, mental health services, and technology upgrades.
Close to 1,300 of the city’s 1,600 schools qualified for the Title I schoolwide program this year, according to school allocation memorandum reports.
But there are strict requirements for how Title I funds may be used, Pallas said, and districts must provide a fair amount of guidance to school leaders on allowable expenditures. Title I funds, for example, cannot be used to fund the salaries of a gym or art teacher.
“The loss of Title I funding would widen the achievement gap, leaving our most vulnerable students without the resources they need to succeed,” said NeQuan McLean, president of the District 16 Community Education Council in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. “This would undermine years of progress made in District 16 and severely limit opportunities for students who depend on these services to thrive.”
Meal programs ($545.4 million)
New York City participates in several meal programs subsidized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, including the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Summer Food Service Program, and the Child and Adult Care Program.
One in four children in New York City experiences food insecurity, according to a report published by the non-profit food rescue organization City Harvest.
All New York City public schools — as well as hundreds of public charter and private schools that operate outside of the city’s education department — provide free breakfasts and lunches to students through the federal government’s community eligibility provision. The provision allows schools to offer the meals at no charge to students, regardless of their families’ economic backgrounds, with the USDA covering the bulk of the costs.
“This is the most cynical and cruel time to be cutting food programs,” said Liz Accles, executive director of the food access non-profit Community Food Advocates, referring to how an executive order could impact federal food program allocations.
With proposals by House Republicans to reduce access to SNAP benefits and increase the eligibility threshold for meal programs looming, Accles said there could also be a “potential compounding impact of these threats.”
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ($290.8 million)
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act requires federal, state, and local education agencies to allocate funds to support students with disabilities.
In order for states and school districts to receive the federal funds, they must agree to use the money to supplement their own spending, rather than replace it. Schools can use the federal dollars on supplies, transportation, salaries, and contracted services for students with disabilities, such as translation and job training services.
At her confirmation hearing, McMahon proposed moving management of IDEA to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Moving the grant to a different department could force states and local education agencies to overcome additional bureaucratic hurdles when attempting to resolve civil rights complaints, said Senior Attorney at the Education Law Center Wendy Lecker.
“Having it all in the education department means that the state and districts only have to go to one place,” she said. “They don’t have to duplicate efforts.”
Additional ESSA funding ($171.5 million)
Under the Every Student Succeeds Act, New York City schools also receive Title II funds, which support “effective” instruction. Title II funds can be used to pay for professional development programs, recruitment efforts, retaining educators in high-need areas, and other costs related to supporting educators.
Title III is a formula-based grant program that supports both English language learners and immigrant students. For English learners, the funds can be used to enhance or develop new programs, provide instruction outside of school hours, or provide translation services to parents. The Education Department also uses the money to provide immigrant students with programs that help them navigate the U.S. education system, as well as services to their family members through community-based organizations.
Title IV covers additional education programs that enhance basic learning at schools. For example, the funds could cover a class on nutrition and the costs of food items to be included in lessons. The funds could also be used to pay for field trips.
Health and medical services ($140.2 million)
Medicaid is a program that provides health care for free or at a low cost to low-income individuals. The reimbursements make up about 4% – or $81 million – of the Education Department’s federal revenue so far this fiscal year.
The department uses the reimbursements to pay for health and medical services for students with disabilities, including physical therapy, transportation, or counseling. The city’s Education Department also expects to receive about $16.7 million for substance use prevention and intervention.
Child Care and Development Block Grant ($125 million)
Through the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act, the federal government sends money to states to subsidize child care costs for low-income families.
The city mostly uses its allocation from the state to provide low-income New Yorkers with child care vouchers. Recipients can then use the vouchers to enroll their children in a formal child care center, a family-based center or an informal setting, like a relative’s home. Nearly 53,000 children used the vouchers to enroll in an early childhood education program as of last December, according to a report by the Administration for Children’s Services, which administers the program.
The city also uses the money for extended day programs beyond school hours and EarlyLearn, an early childhood program for babies and toddlers who are 6 weeks to 3 years old. More than 10,000 children were enrolled in the program last fiscal year.
A potential cut to these funds would be “disastrous to the early childhood education program that New York City has been building to meet the needs and demands of working families across the five boroughs,” said J.T. Falcone, director of communications at United Neighborhood Houses, which supports a network of settlement houses that provide early childhood programming.
Head Start ($70.7 million)
Head Start is a grant-based program run by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that provides free early childhood education to low-income families. About 19,000 children rely on the program in the city.
