The Trump Administration is now expected to release $1.3 billion worth of federal funds for before- and after-school programming, multiple source reported on Sunday. A specific date for the distribution of these funds to states has not yet been announced.
This money was originally held by the Administration as part of a $6.8 billion funding freeze that encompassed money for several programs originally set for distribution on July 1.
The $1.3 billion worth of now-released funding comes under Title IV-B and goes toward before- and after-school programs, particularly in “high-poverty and low-performing schools.”
This comes after both Democrats and Republicans nationwide, including from the State of Maine, swiftly pushed back against the Trump Administration’s decision to delay distributing this funding.
Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) joined sixteen states in calling on Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to release this funding immediately.
Earlier this week, the State of Maine was listed as a co-plaintiff in a lawsuit against the Trump Administration alleging that the freeze is “contrary to law, arbitrary and capricious, and unconstitutional.”
Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins has also pushed back against the Trump Administration’s decision to delay the release of these funds, joining a group of other Republican lawmakers opposing the move.
[RELATED: Janet Mills Calls Upon Linda McMahon to Release $6.8 Billion in Frozen Federal Education Funds]
Although Congress voted in March to extend the prior year’s funding levels government-wide for the next fiscal year, an email sent by the Department of Education (DOE) on June 30 outlined several public education programs that would not be receiving funding in accordance with the expected timeline, according to reporting from EdWeek.
According to NPR, the DOE’s message to state officials regarding the frozen funding said that the agency “remains committed to ensuring taxpayer resources are spent in accordance with the President’s priorities and the Department’s statutory responsibilities.”
The New York Times reported that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) had said that its preliminary research had found that the funds for these programs “have been grossly abused to promote a radical leftwing DEI agenda”
In an email sent to K-12 Dive, a senior official at the OMB confirmed that the funds are now being released as the Administration has verified that they will not be used in a manner that is inconsistent with the President’s directives.
“Guardrails have been put in place to ensure these funds are not used in violation of Executive Orders,” the email was reported to have said.
Known as 21st Century Community Learning Centers, the facilities supported by these grants are designed to “provide academic enrichment opportunities during non-school hours for children, particularly students who attend high-poverty and low-performing schools.”
“The program helps students meet state and local academic standards in core academic subjects, such as reading and math; offers students a broad array of enrichment activities that can complement their regular academic programs; and offers literacy and other educational services to the families of participating children,” explains the official DOE webpage for the program.
According to the New York Times, about 20 percent of students in after-school programs are supported by federal funding. In some places, federally funded programs include those run by the Boy and Girls Club and the YMCA.
The remainder of the frozen federal funding for other public education programs is still under review by the OMB.
