Georgia could lose funding if Trump guts Department of Education
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President Trump's campaign promise to dismantle the Department of Education could prove more costly for red states like Georgia than blue ones.
Why it matters: Funding for public schools primarily falls to local and state governments, but federal funds work to fill in the gaps.
- States that voted for Trump last November, on average, use more federal funding in their education apportions than states that voted for former Vice President Harris.
State of play: The federal government contributes 16.1% of Georgia's education funding, according to the National Center for Educational Statistics.
- If Trump reduced Title I federal funding to zero, Georgia would lose $621.2 million in revenue, according to the Education Law Center.
Zoom out: Average federal spending in the 2021-22 school year (the latest available) was 17% in Trump-voting states, compared to 11% in states that voted for Harris.
- At 23%, Mississippi had the highest proportion of federal public school funding that school year, with South Dakota and Arkansas following with 22% each, per USA Facts. New York, at 7%, had the lowest.
The intrigue: Even if the Department of Education is disbanded, programs within its purview could fall to other federal agencies. Head Start, for example, is already run by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Reality check: A president does not have the authority to create or dismantle a federal agency, only Congress.
Go deeper: What to know about Trump's plan to eliminate the Department of Education