Trump’s Iran war has caused energy crisis all over the world, and American public schools are one of its hidden victims

The war in Iran is currently driving a massive energy crisis that is hitting home for millions of Americans, but the fallout is now reaching deep into the halls of our public schools, The Hill reports. While many people are focused on the rising costs at the pump or their personal utility bills, the financial strain is forcing school districts across the country to make some incredibly difficult decisions.

New research from Brown University estimates that consumers have already paid $20 billion in increased energy costs since the war began, and that is on top of a $200 billion military funding request. This situation is creating a ripple effect that threatens the quality of education for about 50 million students.

It is easy to forget that a school district is essentially a massive operation that functions like a business. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, K-12 schools in the United States spend upwards of $8 billion a year on energy, which makes it their second-largest expense after teacher salaries. When you consider the sheer number of buses, the constant need for lighting, heating, ventilation, and the massive power requirements for modern computer labs, it becomes clear why these institutions are so vulnerable to price spikes.

Unlike a normal household, schools cannot simply turn off the heat or decide to stop running bus routes when fuel prices skyrocket

We are currently seeing the full extent of this crisis as officials finalize their budgets for the upcoming academic year. In Salem, Oregon, the school district is spending roughly $30,000 a week on fuel for buses, which is $6,400 more per order than in February. The situation is just as dire in Ohio, where the state’s largest school district, Columbus, is facing utility rate hikes that will cost an extra $2 million annually.

This comes after the district had already made $50 million in cuts. Other regions are feeling the heat as well, with Raleigh, North Carolina, considering cuts to special education to cover diesel costs, and Burlington, Vermont, warning that they must delay repairs and maintenance for their school buses.

The math is becoming impossible for many administrators to manage. In New York, one assistant superintendent called the situation “staggering” after seeing her district’s cost per kilowatt hour quadruple in six months, jumping from 6 cents to 23 cents.

Across Wisconsin, more than 400 districts have had to appeal directly to voters for funding relief. Most of these districts operate on very thin margins and simply do not have the emergency reserves required to handle energy spikes of this magnitude. When states are also cutting education funding, schools are often left with only two bad options, which are either cutting vital services or raising taxes on the community.

This dynamic creates a double squeeze for families. They are paying for the war’s energy costs twice, first as consumers through higher bills at home and second as funders of schools through higher property taxes. In Concord, New Hampshire, a 12 percent property tax increase was necessary just to keep overall funding levels flat, and the district still had to eliminate 40 jobs. This is a tough pill to swallow for parents and taxpayers who are already struggling with the broader cost-of-living challenges in this country.

It is important to note that utility costs were rising before the war in Iran and during the previous administration. Data shows that average monthly utility prices climbed from $195 to $265 since 2022, marking a 35 percent jump. However, the current environment has made the situation significantly worse. Since returning to office, President Trump has accelerated the AI data center boom and made it much harder for schools to transition to clean energy. He has also dismantled programs that were designed to help low-income families avoid energy debt.

There are concrete steps that could be taken to alleviate this burden. The Department of Education could move quickly to direct emergency energy assistance to the highest-need and hardest-hit districts, much like how it responds to natural disasters. The Department of Energy could also publish a real-time tracker of district-level energy costs to help officials plan more effectively. Furthermore, states could follow the lead of Pennsylvania and New England by ramping up bulk purchasing consortiums to give districts greater negotiating power with utility monopolies.

Ultimately, solving this problem requires more than just temporary fixes. It requires a federal government that is genuinely committed to lowering costs across the board, from utility bills and housing to the price of healthcare and education. President Trump promised to be that leader, but the current reality is an affordability crisis that is systematically defunding our nation’s schools while enriching energy companies and defense contractors. Our students did not start this war, and they should not be the ones paying for it with their education.