OP-Ed / Federal Education Funding Cuts Devastating to NJ Schools

By Vin Gopal

President Trump’s executive order to dismantle and ultimately close the U.S. Department of Education is an unprecedented attack on public education that threatens to destabilize schools, educators, students, and families across New Jersey.

Our state is ranked second nationwide in education because we have prioritized student success, and while the president has described his order to shut down the U.S. Department Education as “returning power to the states,” there is no part of his plan that better enables state and local leaders to meet the needs of their communities. There’s been no discussion of returning this funding to the states to disperse as they see fit.

In short, the sudden and permanent loss of federal funding would be catastrophic, leaving school districts scrambling to cover critical programs such as special education and support for students with disabilities. This comes at a time when we are making progress at returning to pre-pandemic levels of student academic performance and mental health.

According to the state Department of Education 2025 School Report Card, released last week, New Jersey students scored higher on the SATs than the previous year, missed fewer days of school, and took more AP classes than their peers in other states. In-school suspensions were back to their pre-pandemic levels. While rates of chronic absenteeism remain and behavioral problems remain higher than before the COVID-19 school closures, they showed a promising drop compared to the prior year.

President Trump’s executive order will have severe economic consequences as well. If the federal government relinquishes its responsibility to fund education, the burden will fall squarely on the shoulders of local taxpayers. Property taxes could skyrocket as districts attempt to offset the loss of millions in federal aid. The cuts will force communities to make painful choices between raising taxes or cutting essential services and closing schools. Some of the funding being pulled back has also already been appropriated. School districts have committed to spend those funds, now the federal government is taking it away.

Just look at the numbers. In the current 2025 fiscal year, the federal government provided $1.24 billion in funding to New Jersey, including more than $500 million for special education grants, $4 million for school-based mental health services, and $29 million for vocational education.

Under President Trump’s executive order, New Jersey could lose aid it received last year for other programs as well, including AIDS Prevention Education, $120,000; Comprehensive Literacy State Development Grant: $15,000,000, Every Student Succeeds Act – Consolidated Administration: $7,548,000; Student Support & Academic Enrichment State Grants, $33,660,000; Title I – Grants to Local Educational Agencies: $510,147,000; Head Start Collaboration, $275,000; Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Basic State Grant: $489,273,000, and Preschool Grants, $14,799,000. That’s just a handful of the programs that are likely to be cut if the administration in Washington, D.C. eliminates federal funding.

Thousands of New Jersey residents with federal student loans who did not resume payments after COVID-era loan repayment pauses ended a year and half ago could now see their credit scores negatively affected, according to the Federal Reserve Bank.

At the state level, we are doing everything possible to ensure stability for New Jersey schools and its 1.4 million public school students and more than 61,000 charter school students through state aid and other funding mechanisms.

Education is the foundation of our future, and the Legislative District 11 team and the Senate Education Committee will continue to make student success our top priority. We call on our federal representatives in Congress to join us in pushing back against these haphazard and reckless cuts that threaten our children’s future.