The US shutdown is hurting schools whose budgets are mostly federal money: Here’s why Native students are paying the price

Financial distress caused by the ongoing US government shutdown is taking a heavy toll on schools that depend largely on federal funds to operate. In Chinle, Arizona, where nearly half of the Chinle Unified School District’s budget comes from a single federal programme, after-school activities have been suspended, leaving students without vital support and daily meals. While most US school districts rely primarily on local property taxes to fund education, those situated on Native American reservations or military bases face a very different challenge. Because federal land is not taxable, these communities depend on a federal funding stream known as Impact Aid. When the shutdown halted government operations, the flow of Impact Aid — worth about $1.6 billion annually — was frozen, pushing