‘The math doesn't work': Congressional, state leaders brace for potential federal school aid cuts
When the U.S. Secretary of Education visited Rhode Island last February, state education Commissioner Angèlica Infante-Green pleaded for more federal support.
Now Infante-Green is bracing for the possibility of losing some or all of the federal dollars that comprise 15% of the state's education budget. That's what she claims could happen as U.S. Secretary of Education nominee Linda McMahon nears the confirmation finish line with profound changes in mind for America's education agency.
'Please don't mess with the students in Rhode Island. We're gonna be here waiting for you,' Infante-Green said at a press conference Monday morning, addressing the Trump administration.
But Infante-Green told reporters she was also unsure what exactly might be axed if President Donald Trump's wish to abolish the Department of Education comes true. 'We don't know,' the commissioner said. 'There's a lot of chaos and confusion.'
Whatever the extent of havoc that may come, Infante-Green said the state relies on about $275 million from the federal government for school-related funding. Not all that money comes from Department of Education grants. School lunch subsidies, for instance, are handled by the nation's agriculture department. In Gov. Dan McKee's proposed fiscal 2026 budget, federal dollars account for about $256 million in education money.
Half of Rhode Island's congressional delegation hosted Infante-Green Monday at the National Education Association of Rhode Island headquarters in Cranston, U.S. Rep. Seth Magaziner and U.S. Sen. Jack Reed joined state education leaders and teacher's union officials in an event that seemed intended to stay ahead of the narrative of uncertainty coming out of Washington, D.C.
'The public education system in Rhode Island would be crippled,' Magaziner said of possible slashing to federal school spending spearheaded by 'President Trump and his co-President Elon Musk.'
'It would be nice if Musk and Trump went through the Department of Education and analyzed all their programs based on cost and benefit,' Reed said. 'They're not doing that. This is ideological. It's just, 'Let's get rid of it.''
Infante-Green cited Title I grants and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) grants for special education students as funds possibly vulnerable to attack. The state receives about $65 million annually for Title I and $60 million for IDEA grants, the commissioner said.
'As a mother of a child who is autistic, this is real,' she told reporters. 'My son would not have made the progress that he has made today if it wouldn't have been for those supports and the teachers and all the services that he has gotten.'
Magaziner added later that Title I subsidizes the salary of 'a large number of public school teachers' in the state.
Paige Parks, the executive director of child policy outfit Rhode Island KIDS COUNT, explained how many kids might be affected by potential cuts to Title I and IDEA: About 44% of public school kids in the state were considered low-income in 2023, and that same year about 16% of the public school student body statewide received special education services.
'Let me please be clear: We will work with any policy maker that works for the betterment of children and families,' Parks said. 'And my remarks this morning are not about parties. It's not about political leanings. This is about Rhode Island's children and how the impact of federal investments makes a huge difference in their educational opportunities.'
Trump recently deemed February 2025 as 'Career and Technical Education Month.' But Rhode Island Commissioner of Postsecondary Education Shannon Gilkey was worried about funding for post-high school learning.
'We have to protect that intimate relationship with the federal government,' Gilkey said, pointing out that a Pell Grant had helped subsidize his own college education. 'Sometimes you don't know how much you rely on something if you don't have it anymore.'
The U.S. Department of Education did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday on possible funding cuts.
It would be nice if Musk and Trump went through the Department of Education and analyzed all their programs based on cost and benefit. They're not doing that. This is ideological. It's just, 'Let's get rid of it.'
– U.S. Sen. Jack Reed
Trump said last Wednesday that he would like to abolish the department entirely the via an executive order, although the maneuver would need a more than presidential muscle to succeed: Congress would still need to approve the elimination, and Trump has stated he would 'have to work with the teachers' union because the teachers' union is the only one that's opposed to it.'
Meanwhile, Craig Trainor, the Department of Education's Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, wrote in a Feb. 14 letter to education departments in every state that federal funding would be contingent on states' willingness to dissolve DEI programs and initiatives. The Musk-run Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) tweeted the same day that it had cancelled $373 million worth of federal contracts for 'DEI training grants.'
The potential loss of funds follows the expiration of COVID relief money, which all needed to be allocated by the end of 2024 — and on which states and municipalities based a big chunk of their school budgets in recent years. Rhode Island enjoyed a torrent of federal funding in the pandemic era, due to initiatives like the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, which began during Trump's first term and continued under former President Joe Biden. In fiscal years 2023 and 2024, Rhode Island's education budget included $454 million and $495 million in federal money, respectively.
Some of the programs singled out by Infante-Green actually predate the education department. Title I was part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, passed in 1965, and IDEA became law in 1975. The education department opened in 1980 and in 2024 had the third-largest discretionary budget, over $200 billion, among the federal cabinet-level agencies. It's also the smallest of the cabinet-level entities, with around 4,000 employees under its purview last year.
At her Feb. 13 confirmation hearing, McMahon told U.S. senators the IDEA and Title I grants would not suffer under her leadership, nor would Pell Grants. 'Title I programs … will continue to be appropriated through Congress,' she said. 'IDEA is the same, but might it be better served in a different agency? I'm not sure.'
But Reed suggested Monday that things could change after McMahon takes the helm. Reed called McMahon's promises 'a confirmation conversion' — of which the next step, he said, is for an appointee to 'suddenly show up and disavow everything you said before.' Alternatively, Reed offered, McMahon was not privy to the extent of her boss' plans for the department.
Magaziner pointed again to a House budget resolution that recently passed a committee vote. Although far from set in stone, Magaziner thinks the budget could end up with 'a $60 billion cut to the Department of Education,' he said. 'You cannot get to $60 billion in that one agency without touching programs that directly impact students through things like Title I and IDEA. The math doesn't work.'
So what can the Democratic minority in the nation's capital do? Magaziner conceded that Monday's event was an attempt to mold a narrative. 'The public opinion bucket is obviously what we're doing today, and I think in some ways, that's the most powerful tool that we have at our disposal, because we need our Republican colleagues to feel the heat and to hear from their constituents,' he said.
Asked by reporters if RIDE will ignore the challenge to ditch DEI initiatives by the end of February, Infante-Green smirked and said, 'I didn't say I was going to ignore anything.'
'It's clear to me that there's a lack of understanding of what DEI is,' she added. 'It goes into different areas that I think people overlook that are really essential to our community, our kids, our educators, what we do every single day.'
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