U.S. government gives some education money back to states

Now $1.3 billion has been released with a caveat. The federal government said the funds must be allocated toward “allowable activities,” or the money will be revoked. 

Each year on July 1, states receive their federal education funds for the upcoming school year. But on June 30, the U.S. Department of Education sent an email to state education departments across the country, stating it would not be “issuing obligating funds” to education programs. 

The Office of Management and Budget at the White House told The Center Square that in its review, it found that states had “grossly misused” the grant programs to “subsidize radical leftwing agenda.”

As part of a coalition to release the funds, 24 states and the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration for withholding these education funds. 

Two days following the lawsuit, a letter, led by U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-West Virginia, and nine other Republican senators, urged the administration to unfreeze the education money and send it to the states.

“We share your concern about taxpayer money going to fund radical left-wing programs,” the senators wrote to Russell Vought, director of the OMB. “However, we do not believe that is happening with these funds.”

The senators said the withheld money supported programs that had bipartisan support.

“These funds go to support programs that enjoy longstanding, bipartisan support like after-school and summer programs that provide learning and enrichment opportunities for school aged children which also enables their parents to work and contribute to local economies,” the letter stated.

Now, $1.3 billion has been restored to the states, yet education officials are calling on the administration to release the remaining $5.5 billion.

“While we're pleased to see crucial dollars going to afterschool programs which are vital for students across the nation, the bottom line is this: Districts should not be in this impossible position where the Administration is denying funds that had already been appropriated to our public schools by Congress,” David Schuler, executive director of the Schools Superintendents Association, said in a statement. “The remaining funds must be released immediately — America’s children are counting on it.”

The California Department of Education told The Center Square that it is still waiting to receive the Grant Award Notification for this funding. The department did not say the amount.