President Donald Trump’s latest budget proposal would cut more than $4 billion of funding from K-12 public schools. That’s left some local schools uncertain about their budgets for next year.
Dedrick Martin is superintendent of KRESA, the regional school agency for the Kalamazoo area, which oversees Head Start, a federally funded preschool program. Early drafts of the federal budget called for an end to Head Start, but the Trump administration appears to have reversed course.
Still, Martin said this back-and-forth makes it challenging to plan for the fall.
“It’s not uncommon to see a government delay their budget, but it’s uncommon for them to talk about cuts at this magnitude or potential worry about cuts at this magnitude, and give us a late decision,” he said.
Martin said it would be difficult to find alternative funding for Head Start. But he encouraged people not to panic, as a final federal budget is months away.
Jeffrey Thoenes is the superintendent of the Comstock Public Schools. He said he’s also worried about his district losing funding. In April, the federal Department of Education asked all superintendents to sign an agreement complying with Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Schools must agree to “nondiscrimination” requirements or risk losing funds, but it was unclear how the Trump administration defined nondiscrimination.
That agreement is now on hold after multiple groups sought injunctions. But Thoenes said it’s one example of some unusual actions that are making him uneasy.
“It’s been tumultuous, but Title VI is very important for our district,” he said. “So we’re sometimes feeling like we’re walking on eggshells.”
Thoenes said about 20 percent of the Comstock Public Schools’ budget comes from federal funding.
Mark Bielang is the superintendent of the Portage Public Schools. He said federal funding makes up less than one percent of the district’s budget. But Bielang did express concerns that the administration’s lack of support for public education might make potential teachers reluctant to join the field.
“I think any time things like this come along, potential candidates or people interested in going into the teaching profession, or any education-related profession, are going to pause and try to determine the long-term impact,” he said.
Bielang said that Portage has no plans to change any of its programming for the upcoming school year. Bielang will retire at the end of June.
