US federal funding plans are set
What levels of funding for special education are in the passed and signed budget?
By setting aside the funding of its Department of Homeland Security, the US government department responsible arresting and deporting people from Minneapolis and elsewhere, the House of Representatives and the Senate were able to pass a budget bill funding all the other departments. President Donald Trump signed the bill 3 February 2025, so it now law. The bill provides funds for education, including special education.
The funding is important for services—e.g., protecting FAPE—but the legislation has an addition important provision, in my view. I’ll explain in a few paragraphs/
Funding
The actual bill, originally known as H. R. 7148 (read it at the link), provided for essentially the same funding as in the previous fiscal year. That is a big “win.” You can learn more by reading reports by
Mark Lieberman of Ed Week for 3 February 2025: “Congress Has Passed an Education Budget. See How Key Programs Are Affected” (may be paywalled);
Kara Arundel of K-12 Dive (3 February 2026, “Trump signs $79B education funding bill into law: The FY 26 funding measure provides specific guardrails for allocated grant money at the Education Department
So, it ought to be a time for a party!
But especially serious
As we reported earlier (“Update on federal funding for special education”), there are provisions in the legislation that expressly bar administrative actions that would harm special education. The law said that program functions can not be “contracted out” and similar administrative actions diminishing programs may not be taken. That is, dismantling the Education Department may not outsource IDEA functions to other departments, offices, agencies, etc.
In a way, these administrative provisions seem more important than the $$ amounts to me. The damn level of federal funding is still way too low, but preventing the executive branch from breaking special education into a few (diminished) functions and handing them off to under-assistant, semi-related. west-of-Washington offices is a serious problem. I have a haunting image of the soft cries and wails and ringing of bells as a sad troop of family members carry a corpse through the village streets. These provisions help me to push that vision away. I think the legal language blocking outsourcing signals that advocates for special education are party to an important “win.”
I did not find updates about funding on the Web sites of The Arc, or the Council for Exceptional Children. Perhaps those and other organizations will publish something soon.
Meanwhile, party on. We dodged a bullet. Thanks to the organizations and people who stood up for kids with disabilities!