WASHINGTON (States Newsroom) — The Trump administration announced Friday that it will soon lift billions of dollars in Education Department funding that has been on hold for weeks, causing K–12 schools throughout the nation to miss out on payments.
The administration told schools just one day prior to July 1 that it was delaying the distribution of $6.8 billion in funding for migrant education, English language learning, and other programs while staff completed a review. Congressmen of both parties protested the action.
In mid-July, the Education Department issued $1.3 billion for summer programs and before- and after-school activities, but the remaining funds were still blocked.
In a statement sent to States Newsroom via email, Department of Education spokesperson Madi Biedermann stated that the White House budget office had finished reviewing the remaining accounts and had instructed the Department to release all formula funds.
According to Biedermann, the government will start distributing those funds to school districts the next week.
Appropriators cheer
The Appropriations Committee’s chairperson, Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine, said in a statement that the money is crucial to the functioning of the state’s public schools, supporting everything from adult education to classroom instruction.
“I am happy that the Administration has agreed to release these much-anticipated resources after my colleagues and I reached out to them,” Collins wrote. In order for schools to have enough time to prepare their budgets for the next academic year and for students to return to class this autumn to adequately funded institutions, I will keep working to ensure that education funding are given promptly.
Earlier this month, Collins and nine other Republican senators wrote to Russ Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, urging him to faithfully carry out the March spending law that Congress enacted.
The GOP senators noted that President Donald Trump’s objective of giving K–12 education back to the states is in direct opposition to the decision to withhold this funds. Since local communities are the ones who know how to best serve students and families, this funding is allocated directly to states and local school districts, where local leaders make the final decisions.
States and communities are prevented from pursuing localized efforts to assist students and their families if this cash is withheld.
In a statement issued Friday, Republican Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, who chairs the appropriations subcommittee that provides funding for the Education Department, expressed her satisfaction at the funding being unfrozen.
The programs include those that have long enjoyed bipartisan support, such as summer and after-school programs that give school-age children learning and enrichment opportunities while allowing their parents to work and support local economies, as well as programs that assist adult learners who are pursuing postsecondary education, workforce certifications, or employment skills, Capito wrote. Therefore, it’s critical that we keep defending and assisting these programs.
