Complexity has always defined K-12 funding cycles. For districts planning for FY26, that complexity has intensified into a structural condition: securing reliable funding in an environment where timing, eligibility, and implementation rules remain fluid.
K-12 funding continues to operate as a layered mix of federal, state, and local dollars. Administrators are accustomed to navigating formula grants, compliance thresholds, maintenance-of-effort requirements, and staggered application windows. What has shifted is the planning calculus. District leaders are no longer asking only “Where is the funding?” They are asking:
Recent federal actions have introduced additional variables into the FY26 planning horizon. Legislation signed into law provides $79 billion in funding for the U.S. Department of Education covering February 4 through September 30, including an increase of approximately $217 million over projected FY25 levels, according to reporting from K-12 Dive.
The legislation includes requirements for states and districts to submit on-time formula grant proposals at congressionally dictated levels, while discussions continue around potential reallocation of program responsibilities to other federal departments.
While the education community has expressed measured relief following passage of the bill, execution risk remains a consideration. In a statement following the signing of the Education Budget, the National Association of Secondary School Principals noted that congressional action allows school leaders to focus on students rather than immediate funding concerns, while emphasizing the importance of faithful implementation.
Key Contextual Data Points
Even temporary withholding events create downstream operational effects, particularly for districts operating with limited reserves.
Funding volatility occurs alongside sustained infrastructure demands.
The State of Our Schools 2025 report ranks K-12 education as second only to highways in total public infrastructure capital outlay nationwide. Much of this investment is financed through long-term debt obligations repaid annually through district operating budgets.
The report characterizes state and federal infrastructure support as varied, unstable, and insufficient relative to need. Federal intervention frequently follows natural disasters or crisis events rather than proactive modernization cycles. FEMA awarded nearly $13 billion in grants to school districts between FY13 and FY23, a substantial figure that nevertheless represents only a portion of ongoing capital requirements.
Facilities modernization, safety upgrades, HVAC systems, technology infrastructure, and compliance-driven renovations require predictable funding streams. Unpredictability complicates multi-year capital planning.
Despite federal volatility, total K-12 spending continues to trend upward.
Long-Term Funding Trends (2002-2023)
Growth in spending has coincided with expanded expectations:
Funding growth does not equate to fiscal flexibility. Many allocations remain restricted, time-bound, or program-specific.
Uncertainty is no longer episodic. It has become a defining feature of the fiscal environment.
For district leaders, this shifts the emphasis toward:
The districts best positioned for FY26 will be those that treat uncertainty as a planning assumption rather than an exception.
In this environment, disciplined financial governance, proactive grant strategy, and infrastructure foresight are not optional; they are operational imperatives.
Alabama K-12 schools spend an average of $13,461 per pupil, totaling approximately $10.11 billion annually.
As illustrated in the chart above, the majority of K-12 funding in Alabama comes from state and local sources, rather than federal dollars.
This pattern is replicated across the country, with the average amount provided by the U.S. government per state equating to 13.6%, according to FY24 financials. There is also consensus within the education sector that K-12 school funding falls short of global benchmarks, although it is worth noting that the needs and requirements of school districts can vary dramatically from state to state.
Based on the most recent data available, total K-12 funding statewide equals approximately $10.7 billion per year, or $14,190 per pupil. The gap between funding and actual spending is roughly $548.2 million, or $730 per student.
From a taxpayer perspective, Alabama schools rely significantly more on state and local contributions (3.18% of taxpayer income) compared to federal sources (0.67%). Nationally, Alabama ranks 39th in K-12 funding and 41st in K-12 spending.
Alabama’s K-12 funding model has long relied on a structured combination of state and local revenue sources, with federal dollars supplementing districts where local capacity is limited.
At the center of this system is the Alabama State Department of Education, which distributes education funding derived from:
Local contributions can include property tax revenue and other community-based funding mechanisms. The balance between state and local funding varies significantly across districts.
Alabama allocates the majority of K-12 funding through the Foundation Program, a resource-based formula in place since 1995.
The formula determines district allocations based on:
The Foundation Program ensures each district can fund a baseline number of certified and ancillary personnel including principals, assistant principals, librarians, and school counselors based on student population.
To promote equity, the state share increases in districts with lower property wealth and decreases in districts with higher local revenue capacity. Property values within district boundaries are a key determinant of this calculation.
In addition to personnel allocations, Alabama funds Other Current Expenses (OCE)—state support for non-certified staff and operational costs.
OCE funding supports:
This structure reflects Alabama’s longstanding resource-based funding model, where dollars are tied to staffing and operational categories rather than unrestricted per-pupil allocations.
Funding levels vary widely across the state. In districts such as Marshall County, federal funding represents a larger share of total education revenue due to lower local property tax capacity. In more affluent districts, local dollars may comprise the majority of funding.
Historically, Alabama’s per-pupil spending has trailed the national average. That gap reflects structural funding design, statutory requirements, and limits on local revenue generation rather than a singular budgetary decision.
The Alabama State Senate recently passed legislation supporting a $10 billion Education Trust Fund (ETF), one of the largest investments in the state’s education system to date.
A key component of this investment is the Renewing Alabama’s Investment in Student Excellence (RAISE) Fund, which introduces weighted funding criteria to allocate additional resources to districts based on specific student needs.
While districts retain discretion over how these funds are applied locally, the long-term effects of the RAISE model will emerge gradually as implementation stabilizes.
Alabama lawmakers have signaled openness to modernizing the Foundation Program framework to better align with contemporary educational and operational realities.
District leaders now operate with dual fiscal considerations:
Supplemental funding is not guaranteed, which requires districts to maintain disciplined forecasting and contingency planning. At the same time, there is broad acknowledgment that longstanding educational disparities require sustained financial attention.
For Alabama districts planning for FY26 and beyond, effective financial governance requires:
Alabama’s K-12 funding trajectory reflects incremental reform within a traditional structure. While the model continues to evolve, disciplined planning and proactive grant strategy remain central to district stability and growth.
The expiration of ESSER funding has intensified pressure on districts to sustain digital infrastructure and school safety initiatives without federal relief dollars.
According to the recent SETDA 2025 State EdTech Trends Report:
Source: SETDA 2025 State EdTech Trends Report
As a result, school safety now intersects directly with operational, instructional, and workforce planning priorities, making grants and alternative funding sources increasingly strategic for Alabama districts planning for FY26 and beyond.
Below is a curated list of federal programs likely to be relevant for Alabama districts entering FY26.
Application windows vary and the majority of FY26 deadlines are not yet announced at time of writing. However, a good rule of thumb is to look at the posting or closing dates for each of these federal grants and plan the application accordingly.
As we noted above, the current administration has recently signed legislation that provides the Education Department with agreed funding into law, so it is reasonable to assume that existing grant programs will be both under review and subject to an application timeline.
DOJ STOP Grant
COPS SVPP Grant
Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP)
State HSGP
Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP)
Stronger Connections Grant Program
At the time of writing, it should be noted that FY26 application deadlines for a number of federal grants that specifically fund school safety programs can either vary or have not been announced.
If that is still the case, then school administrators should ensure that they sign up for programs that are of interest at SchoolSafety.gov to ensure that they receive updates on new school safety-related grant opportunities when the window opens again for FY26.
In addition, there is an official website designed to simplify the federal grant application and eligibility process – Grants.gov – which is filled with resources and helpful tips. This website is flagged up on the NSGP webpage, although it has dated content and deadline dates that are either passed or TBD.
State spending is projected to increase in FY26 - FY27. However, the level of funding available is (at time of writing) still under discussion with media sources reporting that legislators are budgeting for a minimum of $5.6 billion in FY27 – that is an increase of $347 million from the agreed FY26 budget.
This number is heavily dependent on student enrollment data, albeit that these numbers have dropped in recent years. On the flip side, a spending cap put in place by lawmakers in 2023 has changed how educators and school admins approach the budgeting process.
In recent years, the state has benefited from strong tax collection policies. This has created a recurring surplus, some of which has been directed into supplemental appropriation. Between 2021 and 2025, for example, lawmakers allocated almost $7 billion in surplus tax revenue from the ETF, most of which was deposited into savings accounts.
School safety-focused grants are constantly under discussion at the state level, but the Department of Education does encourage residents to submit a Request for Proposal during the school year. These include questions and responses that align with critical school safety tools such as emergency response, panic buttons, mass notification systems, access control, video surveillance and more. You can search the RFP database through this link.
The Alabama K-12 Capital Grant Program is one avenue that school admins can take. The program will allocate eligible entities up to $5 million per grant for capital projects that:
It is also worth noting that Alabama is one of several states that is currently considering the implementation of Alyssa’s Law in its K-12 schools. You can read our latest blog on the state of play for the integration of panic button systems in every U.S. school here.
The legislation in Alabama is (like many other states) deemed to be pending, although there have been limited attempts to get this passed since it was first drafted in 2024. The Board of Education is currently considering a second version, introduced in February 2025 after the initial bill was rejected in committee.
Foundation & Private Sector Opportunities
Districts may also access safety-aligned funds through mission-driven organizations, including:
Subscription search engines (GrantWatch, GrantPortal) offer additional visibility, though often behind paywalls. The CDW Education Funding webpage is also a good resource for state-specific grant programs, although it also requires the end user to login via its email provider to access the full database of resources and K-12 funding opportunities.
Grants are competitive and time-bounded. The strongest applications connect:
Kokomo24/7® supports districts in mapping funding opportunities to student safety and operational goals. Our team assists with identification, strategy alignment, and application support.
In light of recent positive developments (from a funding standpoint, crucially) at the U.S. Department of Education, it is clear that the FY26 landscape is not defined by lack of funds. Rather, it continues to be beholden to complexity and an increased level of uncertainty as to how the federal funding process will both evolve and its impact on long-standing funding channels.
With that in mind, school districts and K-12 administrators willing to diversify funding streams, anticipate federal shifts, and accelerate grant strategies will be better positioned to support safety, innovation, and student outcomes in not only the year ahead but also FY27 and beyond. Funding for K-12 schools is a constant conversation, what matters is having the right partner at the right time to steer you down the right path.
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