SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – South Dakota is near the top of the list of states that receive the most federal funding for schools. In 2025 the state received more than 20% of its education budget from the federal government.
The question that remains now is how cutting the U.S. Department of Education would impact the state?
On Thursday President Donald Trump signed an executive order to cut the department entirely.
“We are going to eliminate it, and everybody knows it’s right, and the Democrats know it’s right and I hope they will be voting for it because ultimately, it may come before them,” Trump said.
However Trump says the cut will not impact programs like Title I and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). School Administrators of South Dakota’s executive director, Rob Monson, says his biggest concern with the potential cut to the U.S. Department of Education is how those federal dollars will be allocated to the states.
“Depending on what Washington D.C. does with the dollars, if they continue to fund at the level they’re at now and it just comes to the state as block grants, or for us to distribute, we may not see a cut,” Monson said. “If they do some other things maybe with the administration costs or something they reduce those, possibly.”
Since 2017, South Dakota has seen a range in federal funding for education, especially after 2020 due to Covid-19 relief.
This year’s state education budget totaled just over $1 billion with 26.2% of funding coming from the federal government.
The state education budget for 2026 is already set with 23.2% being federally funded.
Monson says even if Congress decides to cut the U.S. Department of Education, schools will have time to sort out how to move forward.
“We’ve been assured from the Secretary of Education, at least for this year, everything’s remaining the same. So no one should do any knee jerk reaction to this point,” Monson said. “But certainly going forward everyone will be paying close attention to what is happening, what’s changing, what the roll outs are. And if we have to make any staffing changes in our school.”
Now it’s up to Congress to decide the fate of the DOE. To advance most legislation in the Senate requires 60 votes, meaning seven Democrats would need to vote for it along with all Republicans.
