K. Tavalin's report about US budget for 2027
What does CEC's leading government analyst have to say?
Over on the Council for Exceptional Children’s Special Education TODAY, Kuna Tavalin wrote about the US government’s budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2027.1 Ms. Tavalin—who (I bet) contributed to the letter to US Congressional members that I mentioned 7 April 2026—explained how this proposed budget provided a glimpse of the Trump administration’s vision of funding for federal education programs, especially for special education.
In the context of the many proposed cuts to departments in the US government, the Ms. Tavalin provided important details relevant to special education and adjacent areas of education. She noted, for example that many programs of interest (e.g., Javits Gifted and Talented grants) are being combined into a program called “Make Education Great Again.”
Ms. Tavalin had more specific observations about special education:
For special education, the proposal would increase the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) grants to states program from $14.2 billion to $15.4 billion and the IDEA Part C Infants, Toddlers, and Families program from $540 million to $590 million. However, the proposal would also eliminate the IDEA Preschool Program and the Part D National Activities, including personnel preparation and development, technical assistance, parent support, and more. Education research, K-12 teacher preparation, and professional development would also see significant cuts or elimination.
Read Ms. Tavalin’s full post under the headline, “White House Releases Fiscal Year 2027 Budget.” It includes a link to a document of the actual proposed budget.
For international readers of Special Education Today,2 these discussions of budgeting and such may be of limited interest. However, the discussions do provide a window through which one can see how kids and disabilities and their families are treated by the US government. One might learn what her own government should (or should not) do.
Readers who are unfamiliar with US budgeting practices. might benefit from knowing a couple of facts about how it works. In the annual budget process, the administrative branch of the government (currently the Donald J. Trump administration) develops a proposed budget (based on what its departments need and what is required to enact the administration’s policy initiatives) and submits that proposal to the legislature (i.e, Congress). But, that is only a proposed budget. Because by law only the Congress can create spending laws. Congress may pass a budget law that is (a) essentially identical to the administration’s proposal, (b) modified based on its own policy priorities, or (c) wholly different in broad policy priorities and specific spending. That writing of the budget historically has required lots of hearings and speeches when legislators get to appeal to their constituents’ interests (sometimes “higher” interests, but often more base biases) in shows of their Americanism, godliness, and financial responsibility. Eventually, when members run out of time or words (usually the former), Congress passes the annual budget law and sends it to the president for his (I use that pronoun advisedly) signature.
Footnotes
In the US, the government’s “fiscal year” is a 12-month period designated as beginning 1 October each calendar year and ending 30 September the following calendar year.
By “ Special Education Today,” I mean the the SET that you’re reading right now. SET should not be confused with CEC’s Special Education TODAY. SET should not be confused with a product that uses essentially the same name and is published by the Council for Exceptional Children. SET predated CEC’s publication by decades; I wonder if CEC put “today” in all capitals to distinguish its product from SET. Despite my appreciation for CEC, SET is not designed to promote that organization nor should the views expressed here be considered to represent the views or policies of that organization. A membership in CEC does not get one a subscription to SET and vice versa! However, if you area a member of CEC, you are welcome to subscribe to SET.