By: Aaron Allen
In the midst of Trump’s assault on the Department of Education, Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland (WA-10), along with 40 of her colleagues, sent a letter to the Department of Education conveying deep concern for the disbursement of Impact Aid and the impact it can have on school districts and how the program fills funding gaps. This federal initiative provides critical funding to school districts that lose property tax revenue due to the presence of tax-exempt federal land, such as military bases, Indian Trust and Treaty lands, and federal low-rent housing facilities.
“The Trump administration has discussed eliminating the Department of Education. And a lot of people don’t know how important the funding mechanisms and programs are that they provide to local school districts,” said Strickland. “There are many things, but one of them that I’m focusing on in this letter is Impact Aid. And I was able to get this bipartisan letter with 40 of my colleagues, and we sent this to the Department of Education.”
“We demand the immediate reversal of any Executive Orders that would halt the disbursement of Impact Aid funds through the Department of Education,” Strickland added.
Their letter emphasizes the federal government’s responsibility in ensuring equitable education.
“Students are our nation’s future leaders. It is the federal government’s job to ensure the needs of all students are met so that public education can remain a stable and accessible foundation for everyone to succeed, no matter their background or where they live.”
Public schools primarily rely on state and local property taxes for funding. However, districts encompassing significant federal land—such as military installations, Indian Trust and Treaty lands, and federal low-rent housing—face funding shortfalls due to these lands being exempt from property taxes.
“The schools that are affected by Impact Aid are school districts that are on military installations, Indian Trust and Treaty land, federal low rent housing facilities, Veterans Affairs facilities, national parks, and basically, government-owned and public property,” Strickland explained. “That are located within the bounds of places that are tax exempt and miss out on taxpayer revenue to help, you know, to help pay for school districts.”
Recognizing the importance of public education, the Impact Aid program was signed into law by President Harry Truman in 1950. It stands as the nation’s oldest K-12 federal education program, currently disbursing funds to over 1,000 school districts and reaching nearly 8 million students.
Unlike many federal education programs, Impact Aid is not forward funded. This means that funds are used in real time to pay staff and keep schools operating.
The recent mass Reduction in Force (RIF) at the U.S. Department of Education, signed by the President on March 20, 2025, has prompted lawmakers to seek clarification on the future of the Impact Aid program. They argue that the President lacks the authority to eliminate the Department of Education without Congressional approval. Such staffing changes and potential disruptions in program funding could adversely impact educational outcomes for all students.
In their letter to Secretary Linda McMahon, the lawmakers posed several pressing questions:
- Have Impact Aid staff through the Department of Education been let go? If so, who plans to oversee the Impact Aid program in their absence?
- Once the Department of Education is no longer operational, will Impact Aid be moved to the jurisdiction of another federal department?
- School districts currently have to apply for Impact Aid through the Department of Education. If the Department is closed, where will districts send their applications?
- Where will DoDEA get their data from for the Supplemental Impact Aid Program to eligible Local Education Agencies (LEAs) since they’ve previously relied on the Department of Education for this information?
- When will FY 2025 funds be made available to the Impact Aid Program Office to disburse directly to eligible school districts?
- FY 2026 grant applications were submitted with a deadline of January 31, 2025. How will the International Activities Program (IAP) receive the LCR data that NCES provides to determine how much funding school districts will receive?
Strickland emphasized the constitutional concerns surrounding the administration’s actions.
“We have legitimate concerns because we have an entire system of checks and balances, right? And so, in many cases, the president here is overstepping his authority because Congress has the authority to actually look at the Department of Education and decide whether it exists and how we fund it,” she said. “And the challenge here, of course, as we’ve been seeing is that there’s no regard for the rule of law. There’s no regard for the checks and balances that we have, and this president’s administration is just going around doing what they want.”
Beyond the immediate issue of Impact Aid, Strickland expressed broader concerns about the administration’s approach to governance.
“But here’s the good thing. Whenever we have outside organizations file lawsuits against this administration, they typically win. And this is why they wanted to actually have the power to impeach federal judges because they’re not getting the outcomes that they want,” she noted. “And so, while we may be limited in how we can enforce things, it’s still important to have a voice and to let the public know. And to be honest with you, let the administration know what harm they’re doing. I honestly believe based on some of these decisions they’ve made, that they have no idea what these agencies even do and how they serve the American people.”
Strickland concluded by reaffirming the federal government’s duty to uphold public education.
“Students are the future leaders of our nation,” she said. “It is the federal government’s job to ensure the needs of all students are met so that public education can remain a stable and accessible foundation for everyone to succeed, no matter their background or where they live. We look forward to your prompt response and explanation of how Impact Aid will continue to serve its important mission for students across the country.”