Washington, D.C., April 3, 2026 – National Parents Union President Keri Rodrigues issued the following statement in response to President Trump’s proposed budget.
“The President has made clear that 74 million American children and their families are not a priority.
At a time when families are already struggling with rising costs, this budget proposes a 42 percent increase in spending on foreign wars while cutting domestic programs by 10 percent, roughly $73 billion. These cuts target the services families rely on to survive. That is not fiscal responsibility; it is a choice to put American families last.
The administration acknowledges that nearly 70 percent of eighth-graders are not reading or doing math at grade level. Yet instead of addressing this crisis, the budget cuts funding to the Department of Education and shifts resources into block grants without accountability.
While the budget proposes increases to IDEA funding, K-12 families struggle to celebrate this when the Administration is simultaneously dismantling the accountability structures that guarantee those dollars reach them. The parents in our network have fought too long and too hard to watch those rights get traded away and significantly weakened.
Hungry kids do not learn. Sick kids cannot focus. Families living on the edge cannot build stability. You cannot slash nutrition, housing, and social supports and claim to stand with families.
Budgets are moral documents. This one makes clear where our children stand. The National Parents Union rejects it and will take that message to Congress.”
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ABOUT THE NATIONAL PARENTS UNION
With more than 1,800 affiliated parent organizations in all 50 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, the National Parents Union is the united, independent voice of modern American families. We channel the power of parents into powerful policies that improve the lives of children, families and communities across the United States. https://nationalparentsunion.org/