From federal funding freezes to diversity, equity and inclusion directives, Connecticut education officials have consistently described the Trump administration's actions surrounding K-12 education as fueling uncertainty in schools.
Now, educators and officials are facing a new unknown: how the federal government will fund education across the country and in Connecticut for the next fiscal year.
With the state budget passed, eyes are now on Congress, which has a Sept. 30 deadline to pass a fiscal year 2026 budget. The education impacts in Connecticut will depend on what ends up being signed into law, according to experts at a Sept. 12 forum hosted by the state legislature's Education Committee in Hartford.
Multiple Connecticut lawmakers, including both Republicans and Democrats, asked state education officials and experts about the Trump administration's impact on the Connecticut education system so far and what to brace for in the future.
Education officials and experts at the forum highlighted Trump's federal budget proposal, the Senate proposal and the House proposal.
"There are some sharp differences ... and all of those must be reconciled," Connecticut Education Commissioner Charlene Russell-Tucker said.
Here's what each budget proposal would mean for education funding in Connecticut, according to experts at the forum:
"With President Trump's proposal, the big picture is there are sweeping cuts across several K-12 education programs," said Jeanette Luna, a policy analyst with the School + State Finance Project. "The main tool used to reduce funding in this proposal is consolidation of grants."
Specifically, the proposal consolidates and reduces 18 current grant programs into one large block grant called the K-12 Simplified Funding Program, and reduces the overall funding by $4.5 billion, she said.
"We were given the rationale that President Trump's budget proposal includes consolidations like this to provide greater flexibility to states to be able to decide how this funding is spent. But this one does come with a large reduction," Luna said.