A new Economic Policy Institute report details the threats to U.S. public K–12 education resulting from state budget cuts, the rise of voucher programs, and Republican attacks on public education—finding that states with a Republican trifecta spend $141 less per pupil on average than states without a Republican trifecta. The funding gap is even higher in high-poverty neighborhoods, with Republican trifecta states spending $244 less per pupil.  

Recent research has shown that additional money in public schools directly increases the test scores of public school students, with greater effects for students in high-poverty districts. Yet, U.S. investment in public education has been lagging since the Great Recession. Between 2011 and 2021, many states reduced their education budgets—especially those with Republican-controlled governorships and state legislatures. 

As a result, the U.S. ranks extremely low among its peer countries in educational spending, with 22 countries providing more investments for public education, as measured by per-pupil spending divided by per capita GDP. And disparities in school spending are large—spending per student in high-poverty school districts was $4,000 below what was needed to provide a quality education in 2019, while spending in low-poverty districts was $5,700 above that threshold. 

These state budget cuts aren’t the only threat to public schools—the Trump administration is seeking to hobble or even abolish the Department of Education and undermining federal efforts to support public schools. The increasing use of universal voucher policies at the state level threatens to divert even more funds away from public school systems and to worsen the quality of education for students remaining in public schools. 

“The United States became the richest country in the world in the 20th century in large part thanks to universal public education. But now state cutbacks to K–12 spending, the rise of voucher programs, and Trump’s attacks on the federal Department of Education threaten to rob U.S. children of an adequate education. Policymakers should take urgent steps to fully fund public education,” said Hilary Wething, EPI economist and co-author of the report.