California schools face serious financial and curriculum threats

A chainsaw of new presidential proclamations on education threatens to slash school systems already struggling to keep it together.

Among the challenges are threats to cut funding if schools fail to align with the Trump administration’s interpretation of diversity and inclusion policies. Teacher training grants have been cut based on shifting views about topics deemed too “woke.”

Meanwhile, the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) — a key source of research and data — is in the process of being dismantled.

This post unpacks these major changes and provides context. Where possible, we’ve included links to detail what has been cut. However, tracking these changes is increasingly difficult, as some web pages that describe federal education programs are disappearing.

The role of the federal government in education

Let’s back up a little. Public education is carried out locally, through school districts. Most laws about education are state laws, not federal laws. Federal programs play an equalizing role in education — they help to pay for school lunch and breakfast programs, for example. In disadvantaged communities, federal programs support teacher salaries for early education and special education. In California, about a tenth of the money for public schools comes from the federal budget. In Mississippi, federal funds play a larger role. In Connecticut, they play a smaller role.

The federal Department of Education (DOE) also plays an essential role in enforcing civil rights in education. Data assembled by the federal government helps overcome states' noisy, varying approaches to figure out what works. See organization chart and FY2025 budget (if available).

Ed100 Lesson 7.2
The federal role in education

While federal money is a relatively small part of overall education funding in California, it is not small change. It's billions. The Education Law Center provides a breakdown.

Trump administration changes

The first weeks of the second Trump administration in 2025 saw significant efforts to implement campaign promises related to education. The table below summarizes the education-related priorities expressed in Project 2025 and the Trump campaign’s Agenda 47, along with actions taken so far.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)

War on "Woke"

The Trump administration issued a Dear Colleague letter in February 2025 to threaten school districts and colleges that they will lose federal funding if they don’t follow the administration’s interpretation of laws regarding race. The letter reads, in part:

A letter is NOT the law.

This letter expresses the Trump administration's interpretation of the law based on the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (SFFA), which held that the use of racial preferences in college admissions is unlawful.

The Trump administration argues that “The Supreme Court’s holding applies more broadly. At its core, the test is simple: If an educational institution treats a person of one race differently than it treats another person because of that person’s race, the educational institution violates the law.”

Many disagree with this expansive interpretation, which will face legal challenges. Two Trump administration efforts related to DEI have already been halted by a district court.

Teacher training cuts

The U.S. Department of Education has revoked over $600 million in teacher training grants previously awarded to institutions and nonprofits using taxpayer funds to train educators and education agencies. The Trump administration justified the decision by labeling the programs as promoting “divisive ideologies,” including Critical Race Theory, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), social justice activism, “anti-racism,” and teachings on white privilege and white supremacy.

In the Ed100 Blog:
Race-blind college admissions in California

California voters long ago banned affirmative action by passing Proposition 209 in 1996:

Local schools will wrestle to determine whether curriculum and programs fall within the Trump interpretation. Are honor rolls by ethnicity acceptable? History lessons that emphasize multicultural issues? Clubs and extracurricular activities that support a group of students such as LGBTQ+ or African American students?

The Dear Colleague letter stated that districts had two weeks to comply, but significant questions remain—not just about what compliance entails, but also whether the Trump administration has the authority to withhold funds in the first place.

Cuts to education research

The Trump administration has announced cuts of nearly $1 billion in education contracts, effectively shutting down much of the Institute of Education Sciences, the main agency tasked with conducting research on education in America. According to the National Education Policy Center, cancellations affect data on higher education and K-12 education as well as data that informs funding of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has been the federal statistical agency responsible for collecting, analyzing, and reporting data on the condition of U.S. education since 1867. NEPC Fellow Bill Penuel of the University of Colorado Boulder wrote on LinkedIn:

NPR reports that the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) will not be cut… at least, not yet. Ed100 Lesson 1.1 explains the importance of this national assessment. Since 1969 it has served as a vital yardstick for determining which systems are working better than others and for which students.

Spending freeze?

A Trump-ordered federal spending freeze, which would affect many services and programs that support children and schools, has been stopped, for now. A federal court ruled that the administration lacks the constitutional authority to impound funds that have been allocated by Congress.

Matthew J. Vaeth, Acting Director of the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) explained the purpose of the freeze in a memorandum:

Writing for Education Week, Mark Lieberman reports that such a freeze could impact “plans to make school buildings more energy-efficient, initiatives to replace diesel buses with clean-energy alternatives, early childhood education providers, efforts to boost pedestrian safety near school campuses, services for helping high school students with disabilities transition to adulthood, and health supports for mental middle schoolers.”

Funding is protected by laws passed by Congress

Among the three branches of government, funding (the “purse”) is determined by Congress under Article I of the Constitution. Congress has created two major federal education funding sources for education: Title I for low income students and IDEA for special education.

In every year of his first administration, President Trump proposed cuts to public education. See details for each year: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021. Every year, Congress disregarded these proposals.

In a speech on Jan 28, 2025, Senator Amy Klobuchar emphasized that the legislature is a co-equal branch of government, and questioned the validity of the order to withhold funds. “The founding fathers didn’t give that power to Matthew Vaeth,” she said. “They gave it to us.”

Historically, it has been common for presidents to propose big swings in federal education funding as part of their budget request to Congress. In practice, Congress has always shrugged off these proposals in the end, supporting public education in a fairly stable, reliable manner despite the political noise. (See blue bars in the chart below. Prior administrations at CEF.)

The risk to children and families is that this time could be different. As Congress allows political posturing to become chainsaw policy, kids and families will be hurt.