How Medicaid Cuts Could Threaten Public School Students and Teachers in Every State
“A new Center for American Progress analysis shows that if states were to absorb Medicaid funding cuts—such as those Republican lawmakers have previously proposed—by slashing their education budgets, public K-12 school teachers and college students would be hit hard. (see Methodology) Education accounts for more than a quarter of all state spending, leaving it a prime target for cuts if President Trump and Congress cut Medicaid. Despite the proven association between higher teacher pay and increases in students’ high school completion rates and future job salaries, most teachers are chronically underpaid—as recent protests in West Virginia, Oklahoma, and beyond have highlighted. Meanwhile, today’s college students face sky-high tuition and extreme debt, putting economic security out of reach for too many young people. If states fill the funding gap that would be left by Medicaid cuts by slashing teacher pay, K-12 teachers would have to take an average annual pay cut of nearly $4,300 in 2027. Alternatively, if states instead increase tuition at public colleges and universities to offset the Medicaid cuts, the average public college student would face an annual tuition hike of more than $905 in 2027. Table 1 provides a state-by-state breakdown of these potential cuts.”