Trump threatened school funding in Maine. Here’s how that money is used

Jonathan Moody runs a rural school district in and around Skowhegan, Maine, about 90 miles north of Portland. His office is in an old, converted farmhouse; the conference room was once a chicken coop.

“I drive 30 minutes to work and I have no stoplight,” Moody says with a chuckle.

Moody grew up going to rural schools nearby, and now he’s dedicated his career to leading them. But the rurality of his district, MSAD 54, coupled with high poverty, has made school funding “a tremendous challenge,” Moody says.

Because of that, his schools rely heavily on federal dollars: Seventy-four of the district’s staff positions are funded by federal grants, and federal money helps pay for free school meals, special education, mental health services and a robust after-school program, among other things

Moody says federal funds help educate “our most needy students. They’re the backbone of our [academic] intervention system. They help students get on pace.”

But as Maine schools find themselves in the middle of a political battle with the Trump administration, that federal support is at risk. President Trump threatened to cut federal funding for K-12 education in Maine, which amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars a year, after Gov. Janet Mills refused to follow an executive order banning transgender athletes from school sports.

In a now famous exchange, Trump told Mills, “you’re not going to get any federal funding at all” if her state refused to follow the administration’s interpretation of sex-discrimination laws. Mills’ response: “See you in court.”

There is now ongoing litigation that could take months to resolve.

“This is the Trump administration basically holding funding for our most vulnerable students, largely low-income students, hostage for states and school districts to implement their policies of preference,” says Rebecca Sibilia of Ed Fund, a school finance research nonprofit. “This is completely unprecedented in terms of the history of funding for schools.”

For educators in Maine, it’s also incredibly unsettling.

“Probably more so today than ever, the national narrative impacts staff,” Moody says, “and they’re nervous.”

What federal dollars do for public schools

U.S. schools get most of their funding from state and local sources, but between 6 and 13% of overall school funding comes from the federal government, according to a 2018 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The money is supposed to help schools serve students who need more support to succeed, including those from low-income families, English language learners and students with disabilities.

Sibilia says while those federal dollars may seem like an expendable fraction of a school budget, “it actually becomes very tangible when you think about laying off 1 out of 10 teachers, when you think about reducing teacher salaries, when you think about reducing the number of classrooms in a school. That all becomes very real.”

Two of the largest federal funding streams for K-12 schools are Title I, which supports schools serving low-income students, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which helps provide specialized services for students with disabilities.

The federal government is legally required to provide Title I and IDEA funding, and, unless Congress steps in, any effort to cancel that money would lead to a lengthy judicial process, Sibilia says.

How Title I serves students in one rural Maine district

Title I is the largest federal grant at Mill Stream Elementary School, which sits above a tributary of the Kennebec River outside Skowhegan.

Rural schools like those in Jonathan Moody’s district are especially reliant on federal funds because they have a smaller local tax base to support school funding.

And part of the benefit of federal grants is they are relatively flexible and allow local leaders to use the money to best serve their unique student population.

Title I has helped Mill Stream – and all the elementary schools in the MSAD 54 district – pay for trained interventionists who provide targeted instruction for struggling students. It also pays for roving teaching assistants, and helps keep class sizes small, which benefits all students.

Barbara Welch, who has been an educator in this district for 37 years, says her salary is paid for entirely by Title I. Her primary job is to coach other teachers, and to track how well their interventions are working.

Welch says the district strategically focuses Title I services on the youngest students, especially those in kindergarten through second grade.

“The sooner that we can get to our students that are struggling, and help them get untangled, the chances of them needing services later are greatly decreased.”

And their efforts seem to be working: “Our data reveals that we’re doing the right thing because our students enter third grade not needing Title I interventions,” she says.

In addition to what happens during the school day, Welch says “parent outreach is a huge part of our Title I funding.”

The district uses Title I money to host events like “Learning Paloozas,” where families can engage in enrichment activities with their children, and take home books and other school supplies, to encourage learning beyond school.

“The school brings us all together, it provides opportunities for those in our communities to come together for a common reason and they build friendships and connections,” says Welch.

Without federal dollars, schools like Mill Stream would have to pull back on these kinds of enrichment and intervention efforts.

But Moody says there isn’t much left to cut. “[We are] already at a bare minimum, and so if you’re going to reduce, you reduce staffing, which is programming for kids.”

Beyond the classroom, federal dollars help feed students and support their mental health

Moody says his district has long benefited from federal programs that provide free meals at school.

About two-thirds of the school community struggles with poverty, and food insecurity is a major issue for his students. The state of Maine participates in several U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs that provide free meals at school. Students who attend MSAD 54’s after-school programs also receive a substantial snack.

But in April, the Trump administration froze funding for school meals over its legal battle with the state. Maine prevailed in the litigation, and funds were restored. Still, the incident created a sense that the administration’s threats can quickly become reality.

“There’s certainly a fear, and it comes up frequently in conversations with community members. For example, ‘What are you going to do if this is cut, or that is cut?’ ” says Moody.

School mental health services have been similarly at risk in Maine and across the country.

Catharine Biddle, who studies rural education at the University of Maine, says families in the state frequently encounter long waitlists for private mental health services for their children. Trained school clinicians can often meet students’ needs faster, and at no cost to families.

“So schools are this really, really important funnel for resources, for families, and they need funds to be able to deliver those services,” Biddle says.

MSAD 54 was able to hire three licensed counselors after the federal government began sending grant money to schools for mental health services through the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.

Jordan Chighali is one of those counselors.

“We’re seeing a lot of anxiety, more depression, parents maybe struggling with substance use,” she says. Some of her students don’t have heat at home, or live in campers.

Chighali says getting mental health support at school is often the only option for her students, and many tell her it helps them do better in class.

Around the same time the legal case over USDA school meal funding came to a close this month, the administration announced it would cut $1 billion in mental health grants for schools. For MSAD 54, the funds will run out this December, a year and a half sooner than they had planned for.

“I was disappointed, and just devastated for the kids, honestly,” Chighali says.

Superintendent Jonathan Moody says counseling  services are too important to cut staff positions, so he’ll find the money elsewhere. In the meantime, counselors like Chighali will likely have to reduce the number of students they can see.

Despite recent developments, Moody remains optimistic that the federal cuts won’t continue.

“Federal funding of education is an investment worth making. It changes lives,” he says. “It absolutely is essential.”

Radio story edited by: Steve Drummond and Lauren Migaki
Digital story edited by: Nicole Cohen
Radio story produced by: Janet Woojeong Lee
Visual design and development by: Mhari Shaw