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Q&A
Concerns about potential cuts to federal education funding
0:37:47
·
98 sec
Council Member Justin Brannan expresses concern about potential cuts to federal education funding and asks about contingency plans if the assumed $2 billion in federal funding does not materialize. Deputy Chancellor Emma Vadehra explains that while no cuts have occurred yet, they are closely monitoring the situation and prioritizing support for vulnerable students.
- The FY26 budget includes $2 billion in federal funding for NYC Public Schools
- Funding covers various programs, including support for vulnerable students and school meals
- DOE is in ongoing conversations with OMB about potential contingency plans
Justin Brannan
0:37:47
Thank you, chancellor.
0:37:49
I wanna jump right in.
0:37:51
All of our hearings are sort of a shadow cast over everything because of the Trump administration continuing to threaten funding.
0:37:59
And certainly we are incredibly concerned about the continued threat to cutting funding to education.
0:38:07
The FY26 budget for New York City Public Schools includes $2,000,000,000 in federal funding, but obviously it's still uncertain how much of this funding will be provided or cut.
0:38:19
Could you talk a bit about what the contingency plans are in case the assumed level of federal funding does not materialize?
Emma Vadehra
0:38:32
Morning, and thank you for the question.
0:38:35
So, yes, just so we're clear, there's a little bit over $2,000,000,000, and I know we've talked about this before, but so folks know that's both funding from the Department of Education for many of our most vulnerable students.
0:38:47
It's also our school breakfast and lunch programs, and so it's really funding across our school system and across a few different federal agencies actually.
0:38:58
We have not been hit by any funding cuts to date, but we are obviously very closely tracking along with our OMB partners everything that's coming out and checking for any impact on us.
0:39:09
And we are in an endless conversation with them about what contingency plans will be.
0:39:14
Until we actually see what happens, it's hard to know specifically what the impact will be and how we'll work together to adjust.
0:39:20
We'll prioritize our most vulnerable students and the funds that support them, of course, but we're in ongoing conversations with them about that.