District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser‘s proposed fiscal 2026 budget calls for increasing education expenditures by millions of dollars as the district’s student performance faces dismal reviews.

Bowser’s budget, which was announced this week, seeks to send nearly $2.9 billion to public schools, marking a $123 million increase over the last fiscal year.

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Washington’s school system is projected to see an enrollment increase of 1,000 students this year, and Bowser’s proposal constitutes a 2.7% increase to the city’s per-pupil funding formula, sending $75 million to the district’s public schools and $48 million to charter schools.

Washington continues to post bleak educational results after reading and math scores tanked during the COVID-19 pandemic.

While there have been some improvements since the pandemic, the city’s reading and math scores remain “significantly below” the national average, according to the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress. Even the national average is a low bar, per the NAEP’s findings.

On average, fourth and eighth grade students across the country scored 5 points lower on reading tests than students in 2019.

Of fourth grade students tested, 69% failed to meet the reading proficiency standard. Of those in eighth grade, 70% could not read at the NAEP proficiency level. In fourth grade math, average scores are 3 points lower than pre-pandemic levels. NAEP’s standard for proficiency in math was not met by 61% of fourth graders or 72% of eighth graders. 

The increases in education allocations in the D.C. budget come despite the district’s fiscal struggles and an estimated $1 billion budget shortfall over the next four years.

“We are doing this in a way that ensures schools have everything they need to continue their successful path,” D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Lewis Ferebee and Deputy Mayor for Education Paul Kihn said during a budget meeting Monday. “Despite those very difficult budget circumstances, the mayor has decided to continue her and our strategic investment in public schools by increasing the universal per-student funding formula by 2.7%.”

Some district officials have blamed the $1 billion shortfall on President Donald Trump’s federal workforce reduction. However, Washington was dangling on the edge of a fiscal cliff prior to the cuts, as a $700 million deficit was announced last fiscal year.

While she has expressed concern about some of the cuts, Bowser has also conveyed hope that the return of thousands of federal workers to the office will spur economic revitalization in gray areas left vacant by employees working remotely since the pandemic.

Glen Lee, the district’s chief financial officer, told lawmakers in December 2024 that Washington has faced economic “headwinds” due to thousands of federal employees working remotely, a policy implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. A report released last March concluded that only 12% of federal office buildings were occupied in the city. 

There were 100,000 to 250,000 fewer people commuting to Washington on any given day than before the pandemic, Lee testified. 

“Fewer workers means less economic activity, which ultimately leads to lower tax revenue growth,” he told lawmakers. 

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Some side effects of remote work policies included drastically decreased ridership on the Metro, leading to plunging rider revenues, which Politico reported put more pressure on “local jurisdictions … to make up for it out of their general funds — money that could otherwise go to schools or public safety.”

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has reported an economic renaissance since the Trump administration overhauled remote work policies, indicating more funds from local jurisdictions will be able to be funneled back to other priorities, including education. WMATA reported last week that ridership is up 10% as federal workers have traveled back into the city to work in person. WMATA further projected it would bring in an additional $20 million in revenue for fiscal 2026, as well as $29 million in revenue for the following fiscal year.