Without the help of ESSER this school year, leaders will have to make tough decisions, including staff cuts, to make the most of their budgets, argues one expert.
The 2025-26 school year will be the first complete year without pandemic relief funds, and declining enrollment alone already puts many school budgets in financial uncertainty.
Georgetown University’s Edunomics Lab Director Marguerite Roza says schools have no choice but to shrink operations. Furthermore, teachers shouldn’t expect the kinds of pay raises leaders were providing during the pandemic.
“You can’t assume that you’ll have the same kinds of pay raises that we had in the last few years,” she says. “And if you’re trying to shrink your workforce, it doesn’t make much sense to give out pay raises because big pay raises are about attracting and retaining people.”
She also recommends that leaders get their staff up to speed on the reality of K12’s current financial landscape.
“There are still so many people who are not aware of the enrollment crisis,” she says. “I would say, those are going to manifest in massive headaches for district leaders, including the fact that they’re not just going to have to change their staffing, but close schools, too.”
“We’re hearing from a lot of district leaders who are embarking on a multi-year process of closing schools, and that will consume them,” she adds.
Addressing the federal funding freeze
In the meantime, administrators are contending with a federal funding freeze on certain summer and after-school programs.
“They’re trying to get their local levies passed,” she says. “They’re following real closely what their state legislatures are going in terms of timing and their money. They’re very focused on negotiation with their unions.”
For the most part, only the nation’s largest districts that receive significant amounts of funding are expressing concern. “For the vast majority of mid-sized or smaller districts, they get these small amounts of money from their state education agencies,” she explains.
According to The Hill, 10 GOP senators issued a letter to the White House Office of Management and Budget on Wednesday arguing against the Trump Administration’s federal funding freeze.
The letter urges the office’s director, Russell Vought, to resume the $6 billion in funding, arguing the pause will “harm students, families and local economies.”
“This funding goes directly to state and local districts, where local leaders decide how the funding is spent, because as we know, local communities know how to best serve students and families,” the letter reads.
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