Educators across the country are entering the 2026-27 school year expecting major challenges centered on students, even as fiscal uncertainty grows. An EdWeek Research Center survey of more than 1,000 teachers and school and district administrators found 75% cite student behavior as a major concern, with 70% flagging student engagement. The results also underscore that student well-being and academic outcomes are tightly linked to staffing and program cuts driven by budgeting stress. Respondents point to layoffs, reduced support staff, and the elimination of interventions and social-emotional learning supports as districts respond to declining enrollment, strained state budgets, and threats to federal funding. The story includes an example from Philadelphia’s Stearne Elementary, where Principal Kenneth Orange described navigating a district budget that approved $4.6 billion in May with $225 million in reductions. Orange said the school will lose one of two reading specialists while continuing to implement the “science of reading,” reflecting how instructional gains can be harder to sustain under staffing constraints. The survey findings provide a concrete read on campus-adjacent impacts—especially around mental health supports and academic intervention capacity—that often shape student readiness for postsecondary study.