On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Education announced a first of its kind funding waiver that gives the state of Iowa expanded discretion over how it spends federal education dollars.
The announcement, made at Broadway Elementary School in Denison, represents a significant milestone in the Trump administration’s broader effort to “return education to the states.” U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon described the waiver as “a groundbreaking first step that gives state leaders more control over federal education dollars,” emphasizing the department’s intent to streamline compliance and empower state decision-making. McMahon made the announcement with Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and Iowa Department of Education Director McKenzie Snow, demonstrating multilateral collaboration between government levels.
Under the approved “Returning Education to the States Waiver”, Iowa can now combine four separate federal funding streams: professional development for educators, support for English learners, student enrichment, and after-school programming. They can now combine these into a single consolidated block grant.
According to the Department of Education, this flexibility will reduce compliance costs by nearly $8 million over four years and free up state education staff time previously spent navigating complex federal requirements. “Iowa now has the flexibility to cut paperwork and simplify 100 percent of state activities funding streams,” McMahon said during the event. “We know that one size mandates fails. States should lead. Washington should support their sound approaches and get out of the way.”
Governor Reynolds says the waiver allows the state to “begin shifting millions of dollars and thousands of hours of staff time from bureaucracy to actually putting that expertise and those resources in the classroom.” She highlighted Iowa’s efforts to strengthen its teacher pipeline and expand evidence based instruction in key areas such as reading and math. (RELATED: Economy Closes Out 2025 on Strong Note Despite Grim Predictions)
Director McKenzie Snow noted that the new flexibility also includes “Ed-Flex authority,” which permits Iowa to grant districts waivers from certain federal requirements without separate approval from the Department of Education. All departments stipulate this can streamline education funding and support in the state. (RELATED: Trump Administration Intensifies Visa Reviews and Student Visa Revocations)
