24 states sue over funding pause to after-school programs

Twenty-four Democratic states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit on Monday challenging the Trump administration’s pause on education funding for after-school programs, along with other specialized instruction.

The lawsuit argues the Trump administration has violated the Constitution and several federal laws by stopping $6 billion in funding allocated for after-school programs, English lessons for nonnative speakers, trainings for teachers, expansion of science and arts curricula and antibullying programs.

The money, which is normally released on July 1, was held unexpectedly with no timeline regarding when the government may release it. 

“The federal government cannot use our children’s classrooms to advance its assault on immigrant and working families,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James. “This illegal and unjustified funding freeze will be devastating for students and families nationwide, especially for those who rely on these programs for childcare or to learn English. Congress allocated these funds and the law requires they be delivered. We will not allow this administration to rewrite the rules to punish the communities it doesn’t like.” 

The federal government says it has paused the funds to review where they are going, saying the priorities do not align with the goals of the administration.  

“This is an ongoing programmatic review of education funding. Initial findings have shown that many of these grant programs have been grossly misused to subsidize a radical leftwing agenda. In one case, NY public schools used English Language Acquisition funds to promote illegal immigrant advocacy organizations. In another, Washington state used funds to direct illegal immigrants towards scholarships intended for American students,” a spokesperson for the Office of Management and Budget said. 

The effects of this pause have been immediate, with the lawsuit alleging summer programs have already been canceled or put at risk, and classes for teacher development or English learners have been stalled or scaled back. The states say they had no time to make up the funding gap, as there was no prior warning on the pause.  

The states are seeking a preliminary injunction and for the judge to compel the federal government to release the funding.  

Along with New York, the lawsuit was joined by Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia.