DOGE cutting funds for dyslexic children’s reading program at KY settlement school

Billionaire and President Trump adviser Elon Musk has swung a financial wrecking ball to Kentucky’s iconic Hindman Settlement School.

This past weekend, Hindman officials were told federal funding for reading and math intervention programs for children has been eliminated by Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, effective immediately.

That means the program in Knott County will lose $250,000 this year and could lose an estimated $1.2 million next year, executive director Will Anderson and Josh Mullins, senior director of operations said Tuesday.

Kentucky, represented by Gov. Andy Beshear, is one of 25 states across the nation on Tuesday that filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Maryland against AmeriCorps.

The lawsuit is asking that the court declare the Trump Administration’s dismantling of AmeriCorps as unconstitutional and to vacate the dismantling of AmeriCorps.

Mullins said Hindman Settlement School is one of about 1,000 grantees who have seen funds cut since President Donald Trump took office.

“We are deeply committed to our region. It is heartbreaking that an area that is traditionally underserved is being impacted this way, “ Anderson told the Herald-Leader.

“The impact of these programs is immeasurable and simply allowing them to be eliminated is not an option. The area we serve in rural Appalachia is traditionally underserved, and few additional resources are available for children with the greatest need,” said Anderson.

DOGE leaders have ordered AmeriCorps to terminate close to $400 million in grants — roughly 41 percent of the national service agency’s total grant funding, the Washington Post has reported.

The federal funds from the AmeriCorps agency passes through Serve Kentucky, which is a division of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Mullins said.

State cabinet officials did not immediately comment Tuesday.

Established in 1902, Hindman Settlement School was the first rural social settlement school established in America, Anderson said.

The loss of those funds provided through Americorps could have significant consequences, Anderson said, including:

▪ Immediate elimination of programs serving nearly 1,000 children with learning differences in 25 schools in five counties.

▪ Cancellation of a dyslexia summer school, affecting 50 students..

▪ Loss of 47 full-time tutor positions.

▪ Loss of reimbursement for administrative costs essential to Hindman Settlement School’s overall operations.

“A lot of parents are desperate to get help for their kids and that’s help that we provide, “said Anderson. He hopes the funding issues will be resolved and the programs won’t be interrupted.

Although Anderson sent an email saying summer school could be affected, he later said Hindman Settlement School “will find a way to hold summer school no matter what.”

Brittany Fields of Hazard said she didn’t think her son, now 12, who has dyslexia would have learned to read without the Hindman Settlement School programs. He still gets tutoring there.

“I don’t think my little boy would have learned to read had it not been for the services he received from Hindman Settlement School,” said Brittany Fields of Hazard.

“We are not going away, but it will impact the number of students we will be able to reach,” Anderson said.

The school is asking supporters to donate the $250,000 needed immediately to continue programs through the remainder of the school year and the on-campus summer session.

“Our Board of Directors and staff have already begun planning a long-term strategy to deal with the fallout of this dire situation and, as in past emergencies, we will come together to solve the problem,” Anderson added.

This story was originally published April 29, 2025 at 4:29 PM.