Of late, there’s a flood of news about government funding. The front page and the top of our feeds only have so much room, so it’s hard to take it all in. But I can at least make sense of the things I have some direct, personal experience with.

Along with Rachel Bachman, a favorite mathematician and human here at Weber State University, I’m entrusted with over a million dollars of government funds. This is routed through our National Science Foundation, colloquially the NSF. I don’t often make a fuss of my work, but in this case I’m especially proud to tell you about this project. It’s focused on supporting math and science education and especially on preparing hyper-qualified new teachers. This is my dream project. I’m privileged to work in an environment where this kind of effort is encouraged and supported.

I also know that this is a lot of money. For quick perspective, though, I figured that our work accounts for only 0.003% of the NSF annual budget, about a tenth of a cent from each citizen per year. With my work being such a small portion, it’s clear that the federal agency supports much more than my project, with funding supporting investigations of the nature of the universe all the way down to the subatomic structures holding us together. In between, there’s research figuring out the synthesis of new materials and development of medical advances.

Given such scope, our executive branch and its associates are looking for efficiencies — a euphemistic way of saying they’re trying to slash funding. Reported last week in a few news outlets, including Science magazine (science.org), NSF is being threatened with a cut of half their staffing and two-thirds of its total funding level.

Looking at those kinds of numbers and the basic math prompts me to look at my current scholarship-supported math and science teachers-to-be: Anna, K, Vannah, Keyan, Jenna, Bekah, Quin, Jon and Sam. I’m imagining the thought experiment of cutting six of these nine humans. Who would those three remaining names be and how would I choose? Suddenly, a cut in funding is not only a cut to my work but a cut of six promising individuals — real people with real lives.

In case any of those students are reading this, this isn’t how such cuts will work. Rather, it will be future yet-to-be-known talented and dedicated people who won’t get the support. I’m listing names here because we often think of budgets in terms of dollars and percentages on pieces of paper. Yet there are humans, people I care deeply about and who have the power to change our lives. They’ve already changed mine, and soon they’ll be in classrooms changing the lives of your children and the rest of us, all for the better.

Cuts to NSF staffers — only 5% of their entire budget — removes oversight of billions of taxpayer dollars at the NSF. Our project was vetted by an expert review panel. We didn’t succeed on this test the first time, and the second time we went through multiple re-drafts and responses to reviewers’ critical questions. This was arduous on our end, but it was in response to people protecting the investment entrusted to the NSF. Now on the project side, a program officer oversees our grant and many others. They make sure we’re doing right, spending funds appropriately on scholarships for students and their mentoring. We all need them.

Proposed federal cuts are widespread. There’s foreign aid, health and medical research, oversight of pollutants and practices, federal workers who are embedded in projects maintaining our infrastructure and defense (even though not part of military spending), and so much more. All this is a gigantic pie composed of these slivers, small but critical pieces, often supporting one another, our country and its citizens.

I thought I should take the time to write this to let you know, in case you thought that others in your circles or representing you should be aware. Now, I need to redouble my own efforts and get back to work so I can at least support Anna, Bekah and Sam.

Adam Johnston is a professor of physics and director of the Center for Science and Mathematics Education at Weber State University, where he helps prepare future teachers and supports educators throughout Utah. This commentary is provided through a partnership with Weber State. The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent the institutional values or positions of the university.