Alabama education officials were temporarily unable to access nearly $9 million in federal education funds Wednesday morning due to an unexpected shutdown of the U.S. Department of Education’s online funding portal. The brief closure, which affected the department’s “G5 portal,” delayed routine reimbursements and raised concerns about potential disruptions in federal education funding.
State Superintendent of Education Dr. Eric Mackey said the outage was unprecedented and caused confusion among state education officials.
“There were funding disruptions; the portal we pull money from, the G5 portal, was closed,” Mackey told WSFA 12 News. “We all have glitches, but when glitches go unexplained is when people get really anxious.”
The portal was inaccessible for a few hours before it was restored without explanation.
According to Alabama Daily News, a message on the portal cited “severe staffing constraints” and warned of long wait times for assistance. The issue coincided with a major staff reduction at the U.S. Department of Education, which announced Tuesday that more than 1,300 employees—nearly half of its workforce—would be laid off. Federal offices were also closed Wednesday due to unspecified “security reasons.”
The temporary shutdown affected funding for programs such as special education and Title I, which serve vulnerable student populations. Mackey emphasized that while the state has reserve funds to cover short-term disruptions, a prolonged issue could become problematic.
“If we went for a quarter and didn’t get money, this could be a real problem for the state,” Mackey told the news outlet.
Alabama receives more than $500 million annually in federal education funding, which is provided on a reimbursement basis. Schools had already spent the funds in question and were awaiting reimbursement when the portal went offline. Mackey also noted that other states reported similar access issues on Wednesday.
The outage highlighted concerns about staffing shortages at the federal level. Mackey pointed out that key leadership positions, including Deputy and Assistant Secretaries of Education, remain unfilled, making it difficult for state officials to get immediate answers.
“Had those people been confirmed, I would have been on the phone calling somebody. But there was nobody to call, and the department was closed,” Mackey said.
Governor Kay Ivey, who spoke before the outage was reported, voiced support for reductions in the U.S. Department of Education’s size.
“I’m all for shrinking government where we can,” Ivey stated. “Every state has an education department, and I know we’ve got a great one in the State Board of Education and local boards that can handle education very well, so I’m going to trust President Trump on this one.”
While the portal was restored and Alabama’s reimbursement request was processed later in the day, Mackey said he hoped federal officials would provide clarity on the situation.
In addition to the funding portal issue, the federal website for student loans and financial aid, StudentAid.gov, also experienced an outage Wednesday. The Associated Press reported that more than 300 employees were cut from Federal Student Aid, including a team responsible for supporting the FAFSA system, which may have contributed to the technical issues.
Mackey expects more details to emerge and hopes the federal government will reaffirm the stability of education funding.
Sherri Blevins is a writer for Mountain Valley News and a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You may contact her at [email protected].