Statement from Magnet Schools of America on the President’s FY 2027 Budget Request

---

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Washington, DC (April 8, 2026) — The Administration’s fiscal year (FY) 2027 discretionary budget request proposes once again to eliminate funding for the Magnet Schools Assistance Program (MSAP), consolidating it into a broader “Make Education Great Again” (MEGA) block grant. Magnet Schools of America (MSA), the national nonprofit representing the nation’s magnet schools, strongly opposes this proposal.

MSAP is the only federal program specifically designed to support magnet schools—public schools that expand school choice while combating segregation. For decades, the program has provided targeted, competitive grants to local school districts to design and implement innovative, theme-based programs that attract and serve students from different backgrounds and neighborhoods.

Under the FY27 proposal, MSAP would be folded into the newly proposed MEGA program, a large block grant intended to support literacy and numeracy initiatives while allowing a wide range of allowable uses under the Every Student Succeeds Act. In practice, this consolidation would effectively eliminate dedicated federal support for magnet schools. The scale and structure of the proposed block grant would make it highly unlikely that districts could replicate the scope or impact of current MSAP-funded initiatives.

“Magnet schools are the original and most proven form of public school choice, grounded in a clear mission to expand opportunity through innovative, distinctive, and rigorous programming that brings students together across lines of difference and prepares them for lifelong success,” said Ramin Taheri, CEO of Magnet Schools of America. “Eliminating MSAP would undermine a school-choice model that has long enjoyed bipartisan support in Congress, and which recent polling shows 76% of the American public, across all political stripes, views favorably.”

The Administration’s proposal notes that activities currently supported by MSAP could be funded under MEGA. However, without a dedicated funding stream, magnet programs would be forced to compete against a wide array of unrelated priorities. Historically, Congress has recognized the importance of preserving MSAP as a distinct program, reaffirming its value most recently by level-funding MSAP at $139 million in the FY26 spending bill that ended the partial government shutdown and provided roughly $79 billion in federal education funding.

While MSA is deeply concerned by this proposal, it is important to note that similar efforts to eliminate MSAP in prior budget cycles have been rejected on a bipartisan basis. Nevertheless, the continued inclusion of MSAP elimination in the Administration’s budget signals an ongoing risk to a program that serves millions of students nationwide.

MSA urges Congress to once again reject this proposal and to fully fund MSAP at $139 million in FY27. Preserving MSAP is essential to ensuring that students, regardless of background or zip code, have access to innovative and high-quality public education options.

##

Founded in 1986, Magnet Schools of America is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit education association representing and serving the nation’s thousands of magnet and theme-based schools.

Media Contact:

Jenna Roberson
Director of External Affairs
Magnet Schools of America
jenna.roberson@magnet.edu

---