Educators for Excellence statement on the federal government shutdown

Evan Stone, Co-Founder and CEO of Educators for Excellence, issued the following statement in response to Congress’s inability to pass a fiscal year 2026 budget and avoid a government shutdown:

“Today’s shutdown of the federal government extends the fiscal chaos and uncertainty that schools nationwide have experienced for the past nine months. The federal government has made exceptionally clear that school systems can no longer rely on it to execute its core function of consistently and equitably funding public K-12 education, leaving local leaders to repeatedly scramble for both answers and dollars.

The consequences of this go far beyond confusion and distrust. The shutdown risks delay of billions in funding meant to be distributed to districts on October 1, the shuttering of Head Start programs that rely on immediate funding in order to operate, and the effective execution of civil rights investigations and other core Department of Education functions due to furloughed staff. It also provides a convenient excuse for the Trump administration to further deplete the Department of Education’s staffing and resources permanently, a move that 70% of teachers oppose.

Congress must do its job and pass a bipartisan budget that reopens the government, mitigates fiscal unpredictability, and bolsters teacher and student success nationwide. Anything less is a disservice to our nation’s young people, economy, workforce, and, ultimately, global reputation. It’s time to deepen investment in our public schools—and our nation at large—not abandon them.”

Evan Stone is available for comment to discuss this matter further.