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Montana still waiting on its share of $6.8B in education funding held by Trump administration • Daily Montanan [1]
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Date: 2025-07-17
On July 1, the start of a new fiscal year for most educational institutions, many school districts anticipated receiving a chunk of federal funding that helps with various programs. That check, so to speak, isn’t in the mail.
As of Thursday, the Trump administration was still sitting on $6.8 billion in authorized and approved Congressional funding for public education, but not released because the Office of Management and Budget is still reviewing the funds. The money has a broad array of programming, from after-school funding for English-learning language, to support for migrant education. For Montana, it means more than $11 million in funding remains in limbo.
OMB Director Russ Vought has not said if and when those funds will be released.
“The department remains committed to ensuring taxpayer resources are spend in accordance with the President’s priorities and the department’s statutory responsibilities,” Vought said in a letter.
The Montana Department of Public Instruction said it has been constant communication with districts about funding updates, and told the Daily Montanan it remains hopeful that the funds will be released. In fact, in a July 2 letter that Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction shared with other state education officials from Vought, it said some delayed funding had already been released in other areas, for example funding that helps students with disabilities or those who are homeless.
On Wednesday, though, a group of Republican U.S. Senators joined some Democratic members of Congress and called on the Trump administration to release the funds, which had been promised to districts. Montana’s two U.S. Senators, Steve Daines and Tim Sheehy, both Republicans, were not among the GOP members who signed onto the letter.
Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, chairwoman of the broader Senate Appropriations Committee, signed onto the letter, along with: Sens. Katie Britt of Alabama, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, John Boozman of Arkansas, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Deb Fischer of Nebraska, John Hoeven of North Dakota, Mike Rounds of South Dakota and both Shelley Moore Capito and Jim Justice of West Virginia.
“The decision to withhold this funding is contrary to President Trump’s goal of returning K-12 education to the states,” the senators wrote. “This funding goes directly to states and local school districts, where local leaders decide how this funding is spent, because as we know, local communities know how to best serve students and families.”
The Office of Management and Budget did not respond to requests for comment when contacted by States Newsroom, the parent organization of the Daily Montanan, on Wednesday.
However, Rep. Troy Downing, a Republican representing Montana’s Second Congressional District, said he’s aware of the situation, monitoring and working with state officials to get the funding in place.
“As a former research scientist and teacher, I take the issue of education very seriously. My team and I are in contact with Montana OPI and will continue to seek additional clarity for Montana’s educators as the OMB scrutinizes this funding,” Downing said.
The left-leaning policy center and think tank, New America, analyzed the funds and found that they stand to hurt districts represented by Republicans more than Democrats.
“School districts represented by Republicans in Congress will lose more per-pupil dollars. Across these four programs, the average school district represented by a Republican stands to lose 1.6 times as much funding per pupil as the average school district represented by a Democrat. The 100 school districts that would see the worst losses per pupil are heavily concentrated in Republican-represented Congressional districts (91, compared with nine in Democrat-represented Congressional districts),” the analysis said.
New America’s analysis also showed an average-sized school district in America would lose around $220,000, but that number is likely far smaller in Montana.
“Districts serving high-poverty student populations (those where over 25 percent of children live in poverty) will lose over five times as much funding per pupil as low-poverty school districts (those where fewer than 10 percent of children live in poverty). The 100 school districts facing the biggest cuts on a per-pupil basis have an average child poverty rate of 24.4 percent, much higher than the national average of 15.3 percent,” the report said.
Two large Montana school districts were contacted for this story this week by the Daily Montanan. Both said they were still evaluating the situation, hopeful the funding would come through, and weren’t ready to discuss what a funding loss this close to the start of the new school year might mean for them.
McKenna Gregg, Communications and Policy Advisor for Montana’s OPI, said education leaders throughout the country weren’t given advance notice about the funding delay, so state officials were as surprised as many local districts which are counting on the fund.
Gregg said that OPI has not started putting together advice or contingency plans for the funding yet, but remains open to helping districts.
“At this time, we are hopeful that the timely release of funds will help mitigate any disruptions,” she said.
While many local school districts have already set their budgets for the upcoming 2025-’26 school year, Gregg said budgets aren’t required to be finalized until the first Tuesday in September, meaning even if the funding is delayed, budgets could be adjusted.
“OPI will continue to support districts throughout this process and will keep them informed as new information becomes available. We remain committed to assisting districts in navigating any challenges that arise. Should specific federal funding streams not become available, we will evaluate how to best support districts on a case-by-case basis, but we cannot speculate at this time,” Gregg said.
The Daily Montanan also reached out to Rep. Ryan Zinke, a Republican who represents Montana’s First Congressional district, but had received no response. Questions to Zinke included whether he was concerned about the delay and what his office might be doing to restore the funding.
States Newsroom D.C. Capitol reporter Shauneen Miranda contributed to this report.
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