By: Alice Bahr
How has the current U.S. administration affected funding that supports the local education departments, including Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPSS)? Over the summer, the Trump administration froze over $6 billion in national education funding that was already approved by Congress and set to go out to schools on July 1st. Major funding such as Title 1 was still released as scheduled on July 1st. However, other grants such as Title III-A, which funds services for English learners, and basic grants for adult education, which fund literacy and general instructional services for adult learners, were frozen and have not been released up until this point. After much outcry by teachers and families that were grappling with the loss of this necessary funding, the Trump administration announced on July 28th that they would release part of the funding for specific programs such as Title IV-B. Then a week later they announced the rest of the frozen funds would be released to schools by October 1st. Additionally, the Trump administration announced in early 2025 that the ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) funds, also known as COVID relief funding, would be ending, even though the USDE (United States Department of Education) had previously approved and promised this funding to local schools. Many schools have relied on this funding for afterschool programs, improved school safety procedures, and school supplies/resources for families that were financially disadvantaged as a result of the pandemic. After it was announced that COVID relief funding was ending, BCPSS released a statement that “Baltimore City Public Schools (City Schools) has relied on pandemic relief funding provided by the federal government to help our students recover from the significant and lasting effects of the COVID pandemic…This abrupt decision significantly impacts school districts nationwide, including City Schools, where we must now make sudden, unwelcome, and painful choices for our schools and students.” BCPSS goes on to outline the specific programs and school improvements that will have to cease or be put off for the meantime. Poly, just like every other school in America, has been affected by these changes, and this article contains information from the administrators, teachers, and students to illustrate the full picture of Poly’s current financial situation.
The Poly administrators have been actively involved in creating and implementing the 2025-2026 school year budget based on the changes in funding. Mr. Woolston, Poly’s business manager, stated in an interview that “the ESSER funds are gone; we funded some teachers with ESSER funds last year… This year no teachers were funded by ESSER funds. The ESSER funds weren’t there before, and then they were. So it was during the pandemic time we were able to use ESSER funds to pay teachers, which meant that some of the money that would have gone to pay teachers went to buy other supplies and things, which it was supposed to. To buy the shields and to buy cleaning supplies and things like that. So when ESSER funds are no longer, it’s kind of like we’re losing the bonus.” In reference to the funding that was frozen and is intended to be released, Mr. Woolston explained that we did not lose any money that we were expecting to get because Poly does not receive funding from the programs that were affected by the frozen funds.
In addition to nationwide changes in education funding, BCPSS has mandated salary increases for all positions in City Schools. As a result, money that was previously allocated for supplies and clubs is required to be put towards paying teachers’ salaries. In Mr. Woolston’s interview, he shared that “there is less money to buy supplies; we had substantial amounts before, we just don’t have substantial amounts now. We have enough… we are not in any kind of desperate situation.” Additionally, he said, “We’ve always, at Poly, spent it more on teachers than on supplies and other things… we will sacrifice supplies for the teachers.” As a result of both the loss of ESSER funds and the increase in teacher salaries, Poly has had to decrease funding for supplies, clubs, and sports, which has affected the school community in a variety of ways.
The teachers and staff at Poly are directly affected by these changes, including teachers who relied heavily on the supply budget for new materials and technologies required to teach their curriculum. As a result, they have resorted to fundraising and donations to account for the supply funding that was lost. Using these alternative approaches, some teachers have been able to pay for new supplies and technology, including computers and classroom necessities such as chairs. Library assistant, Ms. Williams, shared how the library budget has been affected this year. She said, at a meeting where the poly administration shared a list of the full budget, “when you looked at the library section; a big fat zero”. Essentially meaning the library budget had decreased from a previous $25,000 last year to $0 for the 2025-2026 school year. “In the past we were used to just being able to put in orders for books, supplies for the makers space, crochet materials, sewing machine, button makers… that’s how we were able to have mints in here and stickers, from that money, have you seen mints and stickers in here yet? No”. The library now must just work with what they have, receiving donations for books and creative supplies from the community, and using an online donation website, Donors Choose.
Poly students have shared a variety of opinions about the school’s funding for this year, with some students noticing little to no change while others are frustrated about the funding decisions. A couple of students shared their dislike of how funding is currently allocated for specific clubs and sports. A student who would like to remain anonymous said, “Everything is going to the football team, who doesn’t … win.” They also stated, “We’re the number one high school, and our robotics room doesn’t have proper chairs.” “The volleyball team doesn’t have any shorts,” and “some teachers don’t have enough desks in their classroom,” junior Giselle Cole said. “The band got so much money for instruments and stuff last year… We didn’t get that this year, not yet,” an anonymous source shared. Another Poly student asked, “Where have the salads gone? Is that related to the budget?” Many other students shared a general dislike towards the lack of funding our school receives, but they hadn’t noticed any specific changes compared to last year. For instance, when junior Peyton Beach was asked whether she had noticed any changes in Poly budget, she responded, “No, not really. I don’t think I do anything that would be affected by that.”
Students shared a common concern around the disparities in sports teams funding, which was brought up to the Poly Athletic Director, Ms. Corbin. She confirmed that funding allocated for sports has decreased, but they are working to account for the loss and address this year’s sports funds. While the decrease in funds is evident, she was not able to share the specific process for distributing funding across teams because of the risk of sharing sensitive information. However, she did share that they try to distribute funding “fairly and equitably”.
In addition to complaints about funding, there have been rumors from students that teachers have been fired because of school budget cuts. In his interview, Mr. Woolston responded to these rumors by saying, “We didn’t let anyone go; in Baltimore City people weren’t fired because of the budgetary changes… there were some people who retired, and we did not retain their position… So what happens is we have one less teacher in the department.”
All schools in America, some more than others, have been affected by these funding decisions, and Poly, just like every other school, is adapting and adjusting to these abrupt changes. As for the future of Poly’s budget, there is no way of knowing for sure how the current administration, USDE, and BCPSS will act going forward, but as a community we can work together with administrators, students, alumni, and staff to make sure Poly receives the necessary funding to continue to be the #1 school in BCPSS.
