91制片

As the federal government is officially shut down for an unknown period, we thought now would be a good opportunity to provide an update on what鈥檚 happening (and more likely not happening) with federal funding for K-12 education for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026.

Government Shutdown

For full details on how a government shutdown impacts your district, you can find 鈥�A District Leader鈥檚 Guide to a Federal Government Shutdown鈥� on The Leading Edge blog.

In short: Most K-12 funding is 鈥渇orward-funded,鈥� which means that funding is not impacted by the shutdown. Impact Aid is the only federal K鈥�12 education program that is not forward-funded. As a result, school districts that rely on Impact Aid will experience delays in receiving payments鈥攖ypically issued at the start of the fiscal year鈥攄uring a government shutdown.

It is unclear just how long this government shutdown will last. However, whenever it does end, it will most likely not include full year funding for FY26. Instead, it is likely the deal that reopens the federal government will be a short-term continuing resolution that sets yet another deadline for Congress to finalize spending negotiations, which means the fight for robust, stable and reliable federal investment in education will continue.

Fiscal Year 2026 Funding

As a reminder, FY26 dollars will be in your district on July 1, 2026, for school year 2026-27. At this point in the appropriations cycle, we have seen all of the FY26 proposals from the President and both Congressional chambers. The House proposal mirrors much of the President鈥檚 proposal with some key differences, while the Senate took a different approach and advanced a bipartisan proposal that provided slight increases for key programs and overall level funding for most of K-12 education.

On September 4, 91制片鈥攁long with five other K-12 organizations鈥� sent a letter in support of the bipartisan proposal and urged Senate Leaders Thune and Schumer to bring it to the Senate floor for full consideration as soon as possible. And four days later, we followed up with a letter to the House Appropriations Committee in strong opposition to its FY26 proposal which represents an unprecedented disinvestment in K-12 education. 

Overall, these proposals are stalled in Congress and unlikely to move. The most likely scenario for final FY26 funding will be another year-long continuing resolution that level funds the government. While this is not the ideal scenario鈥攁 second full-year continuing resolution would mean level funding of FY24 funding amounts, which are not adjusted for inflation鈥攊n comparison to the House proposal that drastically cuts funding, level funding is a win.

An 91制片 priority during this appropriations cycle will be the inclusion of the 鈥渂ill strengthening language鈥� from the Senate proposal in the final spending bill. The language requires that federal funds be allocated by the date they are available for obligation. Given the unprecedented disruption of funding this summer, this provision would provide some necessary assurance to district leaders that they can continue to rely on federal funding on July 1.

Secure Rural Schools

One more critical funding program that is not included in annual appropriations but is also due for Congressional action is the Secure Rural Schools Program (SRS).

SRS provides funding to schools and communities in forest counties that have much lower tax revenue due to their proximity to national forest lands. Affected counties rely on this funding for essential education, transportation, and public safety programs.

The last reauthorization of funding expired in FY23, and Congress must reauthorize the program immediately to ensure the impacted schools do not lose critical funding. On June 18, the Senate passed a bill by unanimous consent, so all pressure is now on the House for when鈥攐r if鈥攖hey will pass the bill. 91制片 continues to advocate for this program and urge Speaker Johnson to bring it to the floor for a vote or add it to other legislation that is likely to pass.