BURLINGAME—Special Education Student Joseph Reed never imagined he would lose his work-study job opportunity at the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year due to President Donald Trump’s funding cuts to K-12 education.
“I was bummed,” said Reed. “I was sad and disappointed that [I] couldn’t work no more.”
Reed is currently a freshman at Bay University, a special education adult transition program, which serves students aged 18 to 22 with moderate to severe developmental disabilities within the San Mateo Union High School District. This four-year program teaches students the social and vocational skills needed to live and work independently.
Other than teaching students fundamental working and living skills, Reed and his peers were also guaranteed a paid work-study job under the Transition Partnership Program, a statewide initiative created by the California Department of Rehabilitation and Local Education Agencies to help special education students transition from school to work by offering vocational training, job preparation, and short-term employment support, according to the California Department of Rehabilitation website.
Equipped with real-world working experience from the Transitional Partnership Program, most students were able to secure their jobs soon after graduation. But now, as the program’s work hours have been reduced from a 200-hour limit a year to a 120-hour limit in six years due to the funding cut, many students have reached their hour limit long before graduation, losing both a stable source of income and a stepping stone toward their future employment.
“It breaks my heart… just breaks my heart,” said Jenna Smith, founder and department chair of the Bay University Adult Transition Program, who has dedicated her career to working with individuals with developmental disabilities since she was 14 years old. “The money isn’t just about feeling good or making trivial purchases; it helps them pay for their cell phone bill, it helps their parents with rent.”
The 2025 education funding cut by the Trump Administration has already caused effects in the field of special education, potentially causing students to lose future job opportunities and adding burdens to their current living circumstances.
As of October 2025, more than $15 million of special education funding has been affected by the government shutdown and federal staff layoff, according to a report from NPR.
In response to these funding disruptions, Democratic U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (CA-18) urged the federal government to release $928 million in education funding owed to the state of California and $7 billion in Congressionally appropriated funding for K-12 schools and adult education, according to a press release from Lofgren’s website.
As the funding cut continues, Smith worries more about students without parental support.
“I have a young student who is living in a supported living environment apartment that is funded through these programs because his father passed away a couple of years ago, and his mom has brain cancer,” said Smith. “What [will] happen to him? What [will] happen to any of my students in the future and their families?”
The level of concern has risen beyond the classroom. Associate Superintendent for San Mateo County Special Education Local Plan Area, a department under the San Mateo County Department of Education that oversees and allocates state and federal special education funds to local schools and agencies to support students with disabilities. Mary Yung said the funding must be restored and is urging the federal government to release any overdue funds to the state and county.
“I would like to see us funded at the level that they promised 50 years ago, at 40% of the education budget, because that would ease some of the financial burden on our local schools and the state in terms of what they’re putting into our students’ education,” said Yung. “I would like to see the Department of Education reinstate all of the layoffs because we need those people to ensure that the money is given to schools and districts to serve kids.”
Although the future of the funding cut remains uncertain, Smith and her students are already on their way, seeking alternative options, including working with local nonprofit organizations to create volunteer opportunities and micro-student-run businesses to raise limited classroom funds.
“We kind of go straight into problem-solving mode,” said Smith. “I say this all the time about our population of students, the families, and us as teachers — we’re resilient, we’re creative.”
“Don’t ever give up,” adds Reed, who is currently looking for alternative paid jobs outside the school, such as Footlockers and Legos. “When people believe in themselves…they can push through and believe everything they’ve got.”
