By Owen Madaus
The Trump administration has taken actions to gut public education funding and undermine opportunity for millions of students in Massachusetts and across the country. It’s unlikely you need a reminder on why education is the backbone of a strong society, but it seems some people (legislators) have forgotten. Education allows for upward mobility, fuels innovation and the economy, informs our citizens and enhances our democracy, increases community engagement, and it’s the launch pad that will enable the next generation to address the myriad of global issues we leave them.
Unfortunately, our government is trending rapidly in the wrong direction. The “Big Beautiful Bill,” which passed into law on July 4th, redirects vast amounts of money from human needs towards primarily the military, ICE, and tax-breaks for the mega-wealthy. This law tightens eligibility for pell grants and implements loan limits. The Medicaid cuts involved in the bill will hinder schools’ ability to hire nurses, psychologists, occupational and physical therapists, speech-language pathologists, and other healthcare professionals. The cuts to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will increase the number of hungry children and many will lose their automatic enrollment in free school meals.
The drastic attacks on education extend beyond the “Big Beautiful Bill” to cuts within the Department of Education itself. The Department of Education helps fund programs that assist low-income students and students with disabilities, oversees student loans programs including Pell grants, and enforces civil rights laws that defend against sex or race-based discrimination. The Department only made up about 1.5% of the total federal budget in 2024, and it is already the smallest cabinet-level department. The conservative-led Supreme Court recently enabled Donald Trump’s war on education. On July 14th, they ruled that Trump could continue plans to fire roughly half of the department’s staff. This coincides with an executive order Trump signed that directs Secretary McMahon to take all necessary actions to shut down the Department of Education entirely.
Massachusetts will certainly not be immune from these cuts. Springfield schools alone are set to lose over $47 million in federal grants for after-school programs, special education, and essential services. The new Pell Grant eligibility restrictions are expected to strip about $57 million in aid each year from 42,000 Massachusetts students pursuing public higher education. These cuts directly jeopardize their ability to stay in school, and our state budget will not be able to fully make up for the loss of federal funding. The Fair Share supplementary budget, which is funded by the millionaire’s tax, is adding $1.5 billion for education. This would normally be used to expand and enhance educational programs. Unfortunately, it will now be primarily used to account for the cuts in federal funds.
Not only can Massachusetts expect reduced financial and administrative support for its education needs in the future, but the Trump Administration has withheld education funds already appropriated by Congress. On July 1, states were expected to receive billions of dollars for education, as appropriated by Congress, including $108 million for Massachusetts schools. It was not until July 25 that the Department of Education yielded to pressure and released the funds. Summer programs were disrupted and educators and administrators were left scrambling to prepare for the school year amid budget uncertainty. Donald Trump cannot be allowed to ignore Congress and unilaterally withhold education funds for his own political objectives. The livelihood of our students and educators is too important to be trifled with.
The harm inflicted also extends to higher education. Harvard alone has already lost more than $2 billion in research funding, while MIT, UMass, and other universities face hundreds of millions in cuts under federal freezes and cancellations. This greatly undermines Boston’s ability to lead in research, health, and technology. Our higher learning institutions are innately linked to both Massachusetts’s economy and identity. Governor Maura Healey has warned that the loss of federal support for higher education and research will have “devastating, long-term consequences” for Massachusetts’s competitiveness and innovation.
The Trump administration has also targeted tribal education. Tribal colleges and universities receive 74% of their funding from the federal government, but they are chronically underfunded. In 2024, tribal colleges and universities received $250 million less than what was appropriated by Congress. The insufficient funding greatly hinders their ability to operate, but Donald Trump seems to seek the complete closure of these colleges and universities. He proposes a nearly 90% funding reduction for fiscal year 2026. One thing is clear about Donald Trump’s attacks on education — it will be the vulnerable and marginalized who suffer the most.
All the while, money is further redirected towards the military, ICE, and detention facilities at taxpayers’ expense. These actions are ludicrous even from a purely economic standpoint. A dollar spent on war and incarceration will have far less return than a dollar spent on education, healthcare, infrastructure, or green jobs.
The attacks on our needs, our communities, and our children’s futures must be met with resistance. To reverse course on the radical cuts to education we must change the congressional makeup in the 2026 midterm elections. Teachers and parents understand the dire consequences of these slashes to education, yet many parents remain unorganized and unable to act. Please, if you have not done so already, join the mailing list and get involved with an organization such as Massachusetts Peace Action, Massachusetts Teacher Association, and American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts. Together we can stand in solidarity and resistance to the grave threat these actions pose to our communities and our futures.
Owen Madaus is a MAPA Legislative Intern and a graduate student at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University.