Trump funding cuts to PBS set to hit free educational content for kids

Looming federal funding cuts for PBS put in jeopardy some of the most-used educational videos and games shown to help children improve in literacy and other social skills. 

The cuts, part of a $9 billion rescissions package Republicans are poised to pass as soon as Wednesday afternoon, pose a serious threat to PBS's bottom line.  

Last month, multiple projects for kids' education got stalled or canceled after a single grant to public television was taken away. 

“The harm that eliminating PBS will cause in communities where children live ... public radio and public TV stations provide free, credible news and not just that, but also, educational programming and content. Programs like 'Sesame Street' — that is a staple of many American childhoods and households — were birthed from those stations,” said Weadé James, senior director for K-12 Policy at the Center for American Progress.  

“So I think it's concerning that we have — there's a possibility of educational programs being stripped from rural towns and remote areas where public television is really the only source of academically enriching content that many children receive,” she added.  

The Trump administration is looking to claw back more than $1 billion to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which provides some funding to PBS and NPR.  

The rescissions package, currently under debate in the Senate, appeared set for passage after a deal was made to save the international President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

The CPB cuts, by contrast, are clearly a priority for President Trump, who accuses its publicly-funded organizations of having a liberal bias.

“It is very important that all Republicans adhere to my Recissions Bill and, in particular, DEFUND THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING (PBS and NPR), which is worse than CNN & MSDNC put together,” Trump wrote on social media last week, using a derogatory nickname for MSNBC.

“Any Republican that votes to allow this monstrosity to continue broadcasting will not have my support or Endorsement,” he added.

Timothy Richardson, journalism and disinformation director at PEN America, said, “Certain proposed cuts are really part of this broader effort by the administration to punish dissent, to tighten control over what information Americans can access. I think it's an attempt to silence media outlets that don't align with the president's preferred narrative."

Under PBS LearningMedia, teachers have access to educational videos, lesson plans and interactive activities for kids. It also provides newsletters for educators that keep them up to date on current events and recent research.

PBS Kids also offers free, self-paced lessons for students and teachers, along with educational games for students in K-2. It has offered such content for children for more than 50 years and is available in 98 percent of U.S. households.

PBS Kids says videos on its website average 13 million viewers, while its YouTube channel gets 34 million viewers per month. On average, 41 million games are played on its site each month.  

"Families are tired of their tax dollars going towards woke indoctrination from PBS like 'LGBTQ youth resources,' a map detailing 'Gender-Diverse' cultures produced by an 'Indigiqueer transfemme,' children’s programming featuring drag queens, and a guide teaching children about their 'White privilege,' just to name a few examples," a spokesperson for the White House Office of Management and Budget said Wednesday.

"This outrageous indoctrination of American children has continued for far too long, and President Trump’s rescissions package will finally put an end to the taxpayer-funded gravy train," they added.

It isn’t the first hit PBS will take under the Trump administration, after the Education Department in May canceled $23 million from the Ready To Learn grant. The department said the grants were canceled due to the recent programs focusing on “racial justice.” 

That prior cancellation came as a shock to PBS, as the grant had long been tailored to an administration's priorities.

“During the George W. Bush administration, it was No Child Left Behind, and we were really focused on literacy. And through the Obama years, we were very focused on science, STEM and data analysis. And the grant that was terminated in May was actually a solicitation from the first Trump administration, and it was focused on workforce readiness for preschoolers,” said Sara DeWitt, senior vice president and general manager of PBS Kids. 

Multiple studies have been found success in certain learning aspects among young children who watched PBS programming. A 2021 analysis found those who watched “Molly of Denali” had better problem-solving skills.

DeWitt said that before funding was pulled for a study that was near completion, it “looked like we were getting good, positive gains, learning gains from the content.” 

PBS says it would be difficult to find alternative funding sources, emphasizing that charging for content would endanger the model PBS currently uses to create its programs.  

“We will be able to do much less of what we're able to do. There's no way to replace that federal funding,” DeWitt said, adding that the media landscape for kids is “really driven by algorithms or driven by revenue potential” by keeping a child "watching as long as possible. That is considered successful.” 

“What we view as success is how well this content is helping a child learn, how well it's preparing them for school, how well it's preparing them to be in their community and to interact with other kids, and I think that will really be lost, because there aren't commercial incentives for this kind of content,” she added. 

Parents may have to look for other options for free educational content, including recommendations from librarians and teachers, but alternatives are also on the fritz amid Trump's government-wide funding cuts.

The federal government currently is facing a lawsuit from states after it paused $6 billion in funding for after-school and summer activities, putting these programs at risk of downsizing or closing altogether.  

“School districts are having to scramble — can't get their after-school programs started, can't do the training that they need for the teachers that are going to learn science of reading this summer," said Lisa Guernsey, senior director of Birth to 12th Grade Policy at New America and co-founder and director of the Learning Sciences Exchange. "There are also these cuts to PBS, also potentially losing access to these community-based learning neighborhood programs. This is going to put school districts and communities in an even tighter spot."