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Research Evidence on Block Grants and the Consolidation of Federal Education Programs: How Current Policy Proposals Threaten Support for the Nation’s Most Vulnerable Students 

Earlier this month, Congress passed a short-term spending bill to avert a government shutdown before the 2026 fiscal year ends on September 30. The continuing resolution flat-funds education programs through December 11 and delays negotiations over the FY27 federal budget until after the mid-term elections. But Congress will still eventually have to debate competing education budget priorities, including some initiatives reintroduced by the Trump administration that were rejected by Congress in the FY26 budget.  

Among those proposals is a second attempt by the White House to consolidate numerous individual grant programs, this time into a single, so-called “Make Education Great Again” (MEGA) grant, while drastically cutting funding for those programs. The president’s budget also consolidates several Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) programs while providing increased flexibility to states.  

The goal of the administration is to minimize the federal role in public education by reducing both funding and oversight. Even if these proposed funding priorities fail again, the U.S. Education Department (USED) has already partially accomplished its goals by granting multiple states waivers of the Elementary and Secondary Act (ESSA) requirements that will result in reduced transparency and accountability for how states spend federal dollars.

Whether by granting waivers from existing requirements or by creating fixed-sum block grants that give states and local governments broad flexibility to design and implement programs, these changes threaten protections and support for students targeted for federal funds, such as those from low-income families, multilingual learners, and students with disabilities. 

Education Law Center, together with partners at Research for Action and the Center for Outcomes Based Contracting, is committed to using research evidence to help advocates and policymakers understand how the consolidation of federal funds into less restrictive block grants would impact students. A review of the relevant evidence finds: 

  • Block grants have historically not aligned with actual need and are susceptible to reduced or stagnant funding. Stagnant funding often leads states to focus on short-term, rather than long-term, solutions that can result in fewer services for the neediest populations. 
  • Block grants are at risk of fraud and abuse, as evidenced by a recent Government Accountability Office report on the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant. Recommendations for improvement have gone unaddressed. 
  • Block grants depend on state-level administrative capacity, maintenance-of-effort rules, and data infrastructure if states are to assume the responsibility for funding oversight in the absence of federal monitoring.  
  • Proposed consolidation and flexibility for special education funding, combined with reduced USED staffing and oversight, put students with disabilities at risk. Federal monitoring provides a safeguard for state and district responsibilities; loosened oversight and greater state flexibility could threaten protections and services for students.  

“Policymakers can and should learn from the past, and lessons on the implementation of federal block grants suggest reasons to be cautious,” said Danielle Farrie, ELC Research Director. “Whether to protect against fraud and misuse, or simply to ensure stable and consistent funding that does not erode over time, our review suggests that block grants are not the most effective or efficient way to ensure that the needs of the nation’s most vulnerable students are met.” 

View the policy brief and fact sheet generated by the block grant rapid research review. For more information on ELC’s Research Evidence Against Dismantling the U.S. Department of Education project, visit our webpage and check back periodically for updates. This project is supported by the William T. Grant Foundation and the Spencer Foundation.

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Press Contact:
Sharon Krengel
Director of Policy, Strategic Partnerships and Communications
skrengel@edlawcenter.org
973-624-1815, x240