President Trump’s budget proposal would shrink the Education Department, which he has called on Congress to eliminate, by slashing its funding by 15 percent, or $12 billion.
The most significant chunk of that reduction, about $4.5 billion, would come from the Title I budget for high-poverty schools, a cut of nearly 25 percent at a time when the rate of children living in poverty in America is on the rise. The administration said this reduction would come from a plan to provide “streamlined, flexible funding to the states” and relieve the federal government of the responsibility of administering the money and enforcing compliance.
Mr. Trump would save $1.6 billion by cutting programs aimed at supporting low-income students and preparing them for college. The administration said these programs, known at TRIO and GEAR UP, were “a relic of the past” because access to college was not “the obstacle it was for students of limited means.”
Other significant cuts come from slashing nearly $1 billion from federal work-study programs; $910 million from a program for college students with exceptional financial need; $890 million from services to help immigrant students become proficient English speakers; $729 million from adult education services; and $315 million from preschool development grants.
The budget proposal also would cut $64 million in funding for Howard University, the nation’s only federally chartered historically Black college and university.
One corner of the education budget that the Trump administration would like to boost is charter schools. His budget proposal would increase federal support for new charter schools by $60 million, or about 8.3 percent.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said the proposal “cuts much of what helps poor, working-class and middle-class Americans get ahead.”
“Our concern when the president started dismantling the Department of Education was not the bureaucracy, but the funding,” Ms. Weingarten said. “And now we know, he’s actually shortchanging kids. He would gut K-12 programs by $5.4 billion. Support for student aid is slashed.”
Linda McMahon, the education secretary, said the budget proposal reflected her mandate to “serve as the final secretary of education.” Closing the Education Department would require approval from Congress, which has been opposed to such a move.
“President Trump’s proposed budget puts students and parents above the bureaucracy,” Ms. McMahon said in a statement. “The federal government has invested trillions of taxpayer dollars into an education system that is not driving improved student outcomes. We must change course and reorient taxpayer dollars toward proven programs that generate results for American students.”
Michael C. Bender is a Times political correspondent covering Donald J. Trump, the Make America Great Again movement and other federal and state elections.
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