How President Trump's Proposed Education Budget Can Affect Large, Urban Districts

President Trump recently announced his budget proposal. It showed that the administration is planning to cut funds from the Department of Education by 13.5 percent or about $9.2 billion.

President Trump's budget proposal is still just a blueprint, though. Lawmakers will draft their own budget proposals and the plan that Congress passes will form the basis of the appropriation bills that fund the government.

It will reduce or cut funding for over 20 departmental programs. It also suggested the removal of $2.4 billion in grants for teacher training and $1.2 billion in funding for after-school programs.

According to Cleveland.com, this can have a negative impact on large, urban districts like Cleveland. The Ohio city's public schools have relied on a stable, rising pool of federal money to help poor students gain access to education as well as children with special needs.

However, President Trump's proposed education budget may make these goals challenging. He did admit that the money for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) will not be touched but schools have already complained that the federal share has never been the same as the government's original promise.

It was noted that President Trump would increase money in the federal Title 1 program, which would be directly given to schools with low-income families. The new money would allow students to choose which public schools they wanted to go to.

Some believe that this is a win for low-income families looking for other school options. However, this could hurt the urban districts if its brightest students leave for other schools and bring the federal money with them.

Jesse Berman, an Opinion columnist at The Cavalier Daily, described President Trump's proposed budget as something that "belongs in a third world country." Berman noted that the government is obliged to provide its citizens with the essentials of a first-world country.

Congress members still have a say on the budget. They will be the ones to determine the annual spending bills and the changes made to the education budget can still be changed for the better.