Update: On July 18, the Trump administration informed states it would send their funding allocations for before- and after-school programs (Title IV-B, the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program). On July 25, after further bipartisan pressure from Congress, the administration announced they would release all of the remaining funds after withholding them from schools across the country for nearly a month.
A total of $6.2 billion dollars in education funds, which were approved by Congress in March and signed into law under President Trump, were not released to school districts on their expected deadline of July 1st. A notice sent to congressional staff indicated, “decisions have not yet been made concerning submissions and awards for this upcoming academic year,” effectively backtracking on the prior legislation authorizing the funds.
It’s possible that this action may be another attempt by the Trump administration to withhold or impound funds. “Impoundment,” or the president withholding government money that has already been allocated by Congress, is intended to be extremely rare. The president is allowed to send a special message to Congress to fast-track a request to withhold funds, and can temporarily withhold them while Congress considers the request. If Congress does not vote to approve the recission within 45 legislative days of the request, the request is considered denied and the funds must be released.
The funding was targeted at school districts to support children’s before and after school programs ($1.4 billion), English language learning ($890 million), migrant education ($375 million), academic enrichment ($1.3 billion), and professional development of staff and teachers ($2.2 billion).
Impact
All states stand to lose 10 percent or more of their K-12 federal funding if this money isn’t distributed. This funding freeze comes at a particularly difficult time for schools: summer vacation, when many schools need the grant money to operate ongoing summer programs or to hire up staff or cover other program expenses for the upcoming school year. Schools with a large share of English language learners, low income and migrant students are particularly hurt with this action.
Further, this announcement from the Department of Education came down just as a national school voucher provision was successfully included in the sweeping Republican tax and spending bill (also known as the reconciliation bill). The Department of Education has also already cut staff. Ultimately the act furthers the Trump administration’s intent to undermine and dismantle public education, leaving the nation worse off as a result.