Trump Admin Finally Says It Will Release Education Funds
But where's the money?
Brett Wilkins for Common Dreams
![]() |
The Lunatic-in-Chief actually posted this |
The Trump administration placed nearly $7 billion in federal education funding for K-12 public schools under review last month, then released $1.3 billion of it last week amid legal action and widespread backlash.
An administration official speaking on condition of anonymity told The Washington Post that all reviews of remaining funding are now over.
"There is no good reason for the chaos and stress this
president has inflicted on students, teachers, and parents across America for
the last month, and it shouldn't take widespread blowback for this
administration to do its job and simply get the funding out the door that
Congress has delivered to help students," U.S. Senate Appropriations
Committee Vice Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said Friday.
"This administration deserves no credit for just barely
averting a crisis they themselves set in motion," Murray added. "You
don't thank a burglar for returning your cash after you've spent a month
figuring out if you'd have to sell your house to make up the difference."
Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward—which represents plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's funding freeze—said Friday that "if these reports are true, this is a major victory for public education and the communities it serves."
"This news following our legal challenge is a direct
result of collective action by educators, families, and advocates across the
country," Perryman asserted. "These funds are critical to keeping
teachers in classrooms, supporting students in vulnerable conditions, and
ensuring schools can offer the programs and services that every child
deserves."
"While this development shows that legal and public
pressure can make a difference, school districts, parents, and educators should
not have to take the administration to court to secure funds for their
students," she added. "Our promise to the people remains: We will go
to court to protect the rights and well-being of all people living in
America."
Democratic Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes—a plaintiff
in a separate lawsuit challenging the withholding—attributed the
administration's backpedaling to litigatory pressure, arguing that the funding
"should never have been withheld in the first place."
Becky Pringle, president of the National Education
Association—the largest U.S. labor union—said in a statement: "Playing games with students' futures
has real-world consequences. School districts in every state have been
scrambling to figure out how they will continue to meet student needs without
this vital federal funding, and many students in parts of the country have
already headed back to school. These reckless funding delays have undermined
planning, staffing, and support services at a time when schools should be
focused on preparing students for success."
"Sadly, this is part of a broader pattern by this
administration of undermining public education—starving it of resources, sowing
distrust, and pushing privatization at the expense of the nation's most
vulnerable students," Pringle added. "And they are doing this at the
same time Congress has passed a budget bill that will devastate our students,
schools, and communities by slashing funds meant for public education,
healthcare, and keeping students from their school meals—all to finance massive
tax breaks for billionaires."
While expanding support for private education, the One Big
Beautiful Bill Act signed by Donald Trump earlier
this month weakens public school programs including before- and after-school
initiatives and services for English language learners.
"Sadly, this is part of a broader pattern by this
administration of undermining public education."
Trump also signed an executive order in March directing Education
Secretary Linda McMahon to begin the process of shutting down the Department of
Education—a longtime goal of Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation-led roadmap
for a far-right takeover and gutting of the federal government closely
linked to Trump, despite his unconvincing efforts to distance himself from the
highly controversial and unpopular plan.
Earlier this week, the nonpartisan Government Accountability
Office determined that the U.S. Health and Human Services
Department illegally impounded crucial funds from the Head Start program, which
provides comprehensive early childhood education, health, nutrition, and other
services to low-income families.
"Instead of spending the last many weeks figuring out
how to improve after-school options and get our kids' reading and math scores
up, because of President Trump, communities across the country have been forced
to spend their time cutting back on tutoring options and sorting out how many
teachers they will have to lay off," Murray noted.
"It's time for President Trump, Secretary McMahon, and
[Office of Management and Budget Director] Russ Vought to stop playing games
with students' futures and families' livelihoods—and end their illegal assault
on our students and their schools," the senator added.