In Chinle, Arizona, financial distress caused by the government shutdown has led to the suspension of after-school programs, including some that students rely on for meals.
Federal money makes up only a small part of most school budgets in the U.S. But at Chinle Unified School District鈥攕pread across 4,200 square miles (about 6,800 square kilometers) in the heart of Navajo Nation鈥攈alf of the revenue comes from a single federal program, called Impact Aid.
Most school districts rely largely on local property taxes to fund teacher salaries and building upgrades. But school districts like Chinle that include Native American reservations, military bases or other federal compounds have fewer options for raising local taxes for education. Federal land isn鈥檛 taxable, and the government holds most reservation land in trust for Native tribes, so it can鈥檛 be taxed, either.
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