Trump administration to release billions in frozen education funds
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A teacher works with her students on a math lesson on May 27 in Florida. Photo Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
The Trump administration will release more than $5 billion in frozen funding for schools, the Department of Education announced Friday.
The big picture: The administration has been facing bipartisan pressure to release the funds, with GOP senators issuing a public plea.
- The delay exacerbated uncertainty over educational initiatives, including after-school and summer programs, leaving schools and families in limbo.
Driving the news: The White House Office of Management and Budget completed a review of Title I-C, Title II-A, Title III-A, and Title IV-A ESEA funds and Title II WIOA funds and directed the Education Department to release them, department spokesperson Madi Biedermann said in an emailed statement.
- The agency will begin dispersing funds to states next week, she added.
Zoom out: The money is part of nearly $7 billion in federal education funding that was earmarked for education purposes and approved by Congress.
- It was set to be released July 1 but the administration paused the dispersement a day earlier.
- Ten Republican senators issued a public letter earlier this month urging the White House to release the funds.
- More than 20 governors also filed a lawsuit against the administration for withholding the educational funding. The governors said the freeze "caused chaos" in their states' educational systems.
- A portion of the frozen funds for after-school programs were released last week.
What they're saying: Speaking at the National Governors Association's summer meeting in Colorado Springs on Friday, Education Secretary Linda McMahon blamed the administration transition and a lengthy review of the programs for the delay in funds.
- She said next year it will move more smoothly. "I would think now that we've reviewed them ... a year from now, we wouldn't find ourselves in the same situation," she told governors.
- Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), who was among those who signed the letter urging for the funds, said in a statement Friday that the funding supports critical programs people rely on.
- "The programs are ones 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, and programs to support adult learners working to gain employment skills, earn workforce certifications, or transition into postsecondary education, Capito said.
Go deeper: Trump admin to release funding for after-school programs
Editor's note: This story has been updated with comment from the education secretary.
Axios' John Frank contributed to this report.
