Talk of government shutdowns has become common in Washington, but Congress is usually able to avoid them by passing short-term funding bills to keep money flowing.
Not this time.
The federal government ceased operating at midnight Wednesday morning, adding more uncertainty into the nation’s education system after eight months of cancelled grants, funding freezes and the Trump administration’s moves to take back money Congress already approved.
For most schools, disruptions would be minimal in the short term. The U.S. Department of Education has released a plan saying that Title I funds for low-income schools and special education funding, expected on Wednesday, would be available as expected. But districts that rely on Impact Aid, such as those near military installations or national parks, could face cash flow problems. Nationally, nearly 1,100 districts, responsible for about eight million students, are eligible for those funds.
“In some cases, they need this funding for basic services such as keeping the buildings open, the lights on and the buses running,” said Tara Thomas, government affairs manager at AASA, the School Superintendents Association.
A shutdown that drags on for a few weeks or more could trigger additional funding problems for Head Start and school nutrition programs.
Congress hasn’t completed its budget process on time since 1996, meaning that it routinely relies on temporary funding measures to keep the government operating. In March, President Donald Trump signed a resolution that kept funding at 2024 levels. But that expired at midnight and lawmakers were unable to pass another continuation. The House passed a short-term funding bill that would have given members until Nov. 21 to finalize fiscal year 2026 budgets for all federal agencies. But Democrats are pushing for health care benefits to offset the cuts to Medicaid in President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.” They also want to extend tax cuts that lower the cost of insurance premiums under the Affordable Care Act. Leaders of the two chambers met with the president, but made no progress.
“If it has to shut down, it’ll have to shut down,” Trump said Monday.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, left, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer met with President Donald Trump Monday, but could not strike a deal to keep the government open. (Win McNamee/Getty)
Districts and programs serving young children and families have based their expectations of this shutdown on “past precedent,” noted Melissa Boteach, chief policy officer at Zero to Three, a nonprofit advocacy organization focusing on infants and toddlers. But this administration is determined to make the federal government smaller. Trump has already signed one rescission package and wants to redirect funds for teacher quality efforts toward its civics initiative centered on the nation’s 250th birthday.
“We are not in times that have preceded us” Boteach said.
One difference is that the administration, which blames Democrats for the shutdown, could seize on the pause in operations to further its goal of downsizing the government.
“A lot of good can come down from shutdowns,” Trump said from the Oval Office Tuesday. “We can get rid of a lot of things that we didn’t want.”
On Sept. 24, the Office of Management and Budget urged agencies to consider additional mass layoffs of employees. Federal employee unions have already filed a lawsuit over the plan.
“Only time will tell,” if McMahon or any other agency head acts on that suggestion, said Rachel Snyderman, managing director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a think tank. ”But this is certainly …new information this year.”
Here are some of the ways a shutdown could impact schools and families:
Head Start
Six grantees serving roughly 6,500 children are expecting a new round of funding Wednesday, according to Tommy Sheridan, deputy director of the National Head Start Association. So far, none plan to close right away, but that could change if the shutdown lasts more than a few weeks. Beginning Nov. 1, additional grantees could be in the same position.
If programs don’t close, or if the shutdown is resolved quickly, even talk of disruption can mean children miss out on learning, Boteach added. In January, for example, the administration said Head Start was exempt from a federal funding freeze. But over 50 programs serving more than 21,000 children were still locked out of payment systems and some had to close temporarily.
“There were still parents who were confused as to whether or not they could bring their kids and centers who were confused about whether or not they could pay employees,” she said. “There’s what technically happens, and then there’s fear, confusion and chaos.”
Many low-income families who qualify for Head Start or Early Head Start also receive nutrition assistance through the Women, Infants and Children program.
“We like to think program by program, but really it’s about the human being at the center of all of it,” Boteach said.
The National Association of Counties warned that states may have to “rely on their own funding streams” to make sure families receive WIC benefits.
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School Meals and SNAP
School nutrition programs rely on monthly reimbursements from the federal government to pay staff and purchase food and other supplies, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, spokeswoman for the School Nutrition Association, which represents district programs.
Several state agencies informed the association that they have enough funds on hand if the U.S. Department of Agriculture doesn’t pay them back for meals served in September. But they don’t have enough in the bank for October meals and would experience a shortfall. The department, Heavner said, has not yet posted a shutdown plan for continuing those payments.
Families who depend on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, should also receive benefits as usual and should not be affected if the shutdown lasts no more than a week.
The last shutdown, which also occurred when Trump was in office, lasted 35 days over the 2018 Christmas holidays into late January.
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Education Department
In a shutdown, the majority of federal employees stop working. While some essential staff will remain available at the Education Department, civil rights investigations would be put on hold. A shutdown also halts the department’s work on any regulations or guidance being prepared, and states and districts won’t be able to reach anyone if they have questions about grants or other programs.
Work currently in progress includes gathering feedback on a redesign of the Institute for Education Sciences. Christy Wolfe, director of K-12 policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, noted that just last week, the department awarded $500 million through its Charter School Program.
“Schools that were planning on opening with those funds on a certain timeline,” she said, “may have to be delayed.”
