Indiana becomes the latest state to receive flexibility from Trump on federal education spending

By — Annie Ma, Associated Press Annie Ma, Associated Press Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/education/indiana-becomes-the-latest-state-to-receive-flexibility-from-trump-on-federal-education-spending Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Indiana becomes the latest state to receive flexibility from Trump on federal education spending Education Jun 17, 2026 4:45 PM EDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is giving Indiana more flexibility over how it decides to spend its federal grant money, the third state to receive such exemptions from the Education Department as it seeks to "return education to the states." Indiana's plan will consolidate $50 million in federal money from five funding streams into one with fewer spending restrictions, similar to exemptions over federal spending granted to Iowa and Louisiana earlier this year. State officials said the waiver would reduce the costs associated with compliance and documentation by about $20 million. Educate your inbox Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else. Education Secretary Linda McMahon approved the state's plan at an event Tuesday in Indiana, appearing with state Secretary of Education Katie Jenner and Gov. Mike Braun, a Republican. Jenner said the state welcomes the expanded control over federal money. "As states, we have significant control over education in that we set the standards, we can choose our curriculum, we can design our assessments," Jenner said. "But when it comes to federal funding, our hands have always been tied. Until now." WATCH: Civil rights, special education oversight shifted from Department of Education The Education Department sends billions of dollars each year to American schools, based on funding levels set by Congress. The money makes up a small but critical part of most school district budgets, arriving in dozens of separate grants and funding streams set aside for specific purposes. Waivers from the federal government have been offered for years, and were widely used during the pandemic. Under the Trump administration, which has vowed to dismantle the federal Education Department, they have gained traction as a new way to reduce the federal footprint in state and local education decisions. Indiana's waiver is also the first granted by the Trump administration that allows a change in accountability systems, allowing Indiana to reduce how heavily academic indicators are weighted in school performance scores. WATCH: What's behind the decade-long 'learning recession' for American students Still, the department can grant only so much flexibility. Indiana's request sought to create a school choice program by giving money set aside to improve low-performing districts to higher-performing ones that enroll students from other schools, but that was denied. An Education Department official said that proposal was not approved because it