--- title: Trump’s Tax Bill Will Starve Public Schools. Kids are Next description: Trump's tax bill cut $186 billion from food assistance benefits. Now, an estimated 18 million kids could lose access to free school meals. canonical: https://time.com/7308619/trump-starve-public-schools/ author: Becky Pringle article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-08-11T10:15:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-11T01:41:27.453Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Trump’s Tax Bill Will Starve Public Schools. Kids are Next og:description: An estimated 18 million kids could lose access to free school meals because of Trump's tax bill. og:url: https://time.com/7308619/trump-starve-public-schools/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt75c9589fd17f5b6f/6998c8eaa97fc0418aa7494e/Trump-Big-Beautiful-Bill-Act.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: President Trump Signs His "Big, Beautiful Bill" Into Law And Celebrates Independence Day At The White House og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump’s Tax Bill Will Starve Public Schools. Kids are Next twitter:description: An estimated 18 million kids could lose access to free school meals because of Trump's tax bill. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt75c9589fd17f5b6f/6998c8eaa97fc0418aa7494e/Trump-Big-Beautiful-Bill-Act.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  IDEAS Time ideas # NEA President: Trump’s Tax Bill Will Starve Public Schools > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Inside TIME: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Inside TIME is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories. Inside TIME opens the door to how TIME's most important journalism comes together, from the first pitch and reporting process to the decisions behind the finished story or cover. 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Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. by [Becky Pringle](https://time.com/author/becky-pringle/) ## Becky Pringle Pringle is the president of the National Education Association Aug 11, 2025 10:15 AM UTC  President Donald Trump, joined by Republican lawmakers, signs the One, Big Beautiful Bill Act on July 04, 2025 in Washington, DC. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill will cut federal spending on SNAP by around $186 billion over the next decade. President Donald Trump, joined by Republican lawmakers, signs the One, Big Beautiful Bill Act on July 04, 2025 in Washington, DC. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill will cut federal spending on SNAP by around $186 billion over the next decade. Samuel Corum—Getty Images by [Becky Pringle](https://time.com/author/becky-pringle/) ## Becky Pringle Pringle is the president of the National Education Association Aug 11, 2025 10:15 AM UTC Hunger in America's public schools is a real problem, and it is heartbreaking. As the head of the largest union of educators in the country, I hear stories almost daily of how kids struggle and how schools and teachers step up to fill the gaps. It’s the school community in Kentucky [filling](https://www.wnky.com/barren-county-schools-packs-blessing-boxes-for-community/) a Blessing Box with foods to help fellow students and families who don't have enough. It's the teacher in Rhode Island who [started](https://ecori.org/nonprofit-project-teaches-schools-how-to-reduce-food-waste/) a food "recycling" program to ensure no food goes to waste and to give students access to healthy snacks like cheese sticks, apples, yogurt, and milk. School meals are more than a budget line item. They are lifelines that help millions of students learn and grow. But as families across America prepare for the new school year, millions of children face the threat of returning to classrooms without access to school meals. President Donald Trump’s [newly-signed tax bill](https://time.com/7299514/bill-will-devastate-public-schools/), which Republicans overwhelmingly voted to pass, slashes food assistance benefits via the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by an estimated [$186 billion over the next decade](https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/10/trumps-big-beautiful-bill-cuts-snap-for-millions-of-families.html)—the [largest](https://www.cbpp.org/research/food-assistance/house-reconciliation-bill-proposes-deepest-snap-cut-in-history-would-take) cut in American history. These devastating reductions will result in an estimated [18 million children](https://www.urban.org/research/publication/changes-snap-could-reduce-student-access-free-school-meals) losing access to free school meals. The cuts shift the cost of school lunches to the states, costing them more than they can afford when they are already grappling with tighter budgets and substantial Republican-led [Medicaid cuts](https://time.com/7290575/joni-ernst-medicaid-big-beautiful-bill-mike-johnson/). [Twenty-three governors](https://www.newsweek.com/snap-benefit-cuts-warning-23-states-2090957) warned these cuts will lead to millions of Americans losing vital food assistance. **_Read More:_** [**_Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Will Devastate Public Schools_**](https://time.com/7299514/bill-will-devastate-public-schools/) It’s hard to understand if you’ve never faced hunger, but millions of American children do not have access to enough food each day. In a recent [survey](https://www.axios.com/local/seattle/2025/03/24/washington-childhood-hunger-free-school-meals-snap-cuts) of 1,000 teachers nationwide, three out of every four reported that their students are already coming to school hungry. Our children can’t learn if they are hungry. As a middle-school science teacher for more than 30 years, I have seen the pain that hunger creates. It's the student who skips breakfast so she can give it to her little brother. It’s the student who misbehaves because his stomach is rumbling. It’s the students who struggle in class after a weekend where they didn’t have a single full meal. Educators see this pain everyday, and that’s why they go above and beyond—buying classroom snacks with their [own money](https://www.chalkbeat.org/2024/10/01/teachers-buying-classroom-supplies-with-their-own-money/)—to support their students. Free school meals represent commonsense and cost-effective public policy. They don’t just prevent hunger, they help kids succeed. Decades of research reviewed by the [Food Research & Action Center](https://frac.org/programs/national-school-lunch-program/benefits-school-lunch) shows that when students participate in school breakfast programs, behavior, academic performance, and academic achievement go up and tardiness goes down. When I stand in a room of bright and curious children, it breaks my heart that some of them are going without the food they need to learn and thrive—not because America can’t afford to feed them, but because adults in Washington decided they’d rather spend the money on tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy. The cuts from the Republican tax bill will hit hardest in places where families are already struggling the most, especially in rural and Southern states where school nutrition programs are a lifeline to many. In Texas, [3.4 million kids](https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d23/tables/dt23%5F204.10.asp), nearly two-thirds of students, are eligible for free and reduced lunch. In Mississippi, [439,000 kids](https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d23/tables/dt23%5F204.10.asp), 99.7% of the student population, were eligible for free and reduced lunch during the 2022-2023 school year. These are not abstract numbers. These are real children who show up to school eager to learn but are instead distracted by hunger and uncertainty about when they will eat again. America’s kids deserve better. The [National School Lunch Act of 1946](https://time.com/4496771/school-lunch-history/) laid the foundation that public schools are places where children can receive a free breakfast and lunch each day. This shouldn’t be a partisan issue. For decades, Republican and Democratic administrations alike expanded school lunch programs, operating under the shared understanding that no child should go hungry at school in the richest country in the world. But the extreme right wing of today’s Republican Party has walked away from that moral consensus—ripping away these programs to give another [tax break to billionaires](https://time.com/7299897/gop-budget-gives-to-the-rich/). The Trump Administration’s [authoritarian](https://time.com/7175545/trump-election-authoritarian-democrats-loss/) blueprint [outlined](https://time.com/7209901/donald-trump-executive-actions-project-2025/) in Project 2025 takes the anti-public education attacks even further by [attempting](https://time.com/7307744/trump-axe-education-democratic-attorneys-general/) to [gut the Department of Education](https://time.com/7303430/gutting-department-education-hurts-americans/) and to send tax dollars to private schools, and promoting ideologically-driven [book bans](https://time.com/7280715/how-libraries-are-faring-under-trump/) and classroom censorship. **_Read More:_** [**_Former Education Secretary: Gutting the Department of Education Hurts All Americans_**](https://time.com/7303430/gutting-department-education-hurts-americans/) And now, as the Trump Administration and its allies work to destroy public education, they also have attempted to [intimidate](https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/gop-renews-push-to-revoke-federal-charter-for-nations-largest-teachers-union/2025/07) the National Education Association and our 3 million educators. They know we are powerful and vocal advocates for students and a formidable opponent to their attacks on public education. Last month, the relentless efforts of organized educators and our allies got the [Trump Administration to release $7 billion](https://www.chalkbeat.org/2025/07/25/trump-administration-unfreezes-billions-in-education-funds-for-schools/) in education funds it had tried to withhold. Together, we will fight forward: for [our vision](https://www.nea.org/about-nea/media-center/press-releases/educators-poised-fight-forward-public-education) where every student attends a safe, inclusive, supportive, and well-resourced public school, which includes nutritious meals for all students regardless of race or place. We are educators. We don’t quit. We will continue to engage with school boards, town halls, state legislatures, and Congress to fight for students. Public education does not belong to politicians trying to dismantle it. It is for every student, parent, and educator who understands it has the power to transform lives. [TIME Ideas](https://www.time.com/ideas) hosts the world's leading voices, providing commentary on events in news, society, and culture. We welcome outside contributions. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of TIME editors. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7308619/trump-starve-public-schools/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7308619/trump-starve-public-schools/"},"headline":"NEA President: Trump’s Tax Bill Will Starve Public Schools","datePublished":"2025-08-11T10:15:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-11T01:41:27.453Z","description":"Trump's tax bill cut $186 billion from food assistance benefits. 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