Trump administration releases portion of frozen North Carolina education funding
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The U.S. Department of Education has released a portion of North Carolina's $165 million in education funding frozen by the Trump administration, the state's education department announced Monday night.
Why it matters: The nearly $36 million in funding released will allow North Carolina's after-school and summer programs to continue operating.
- The programs, which served more than 10,000 K-12 students last year, "provide critical academic support and safe environments for students, particularly those in high-poverty areas," North Carolina's Department of Public Instruction said in a statement.
Catch up quick: North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson is one of a dozen attorneys general nationwide who are suing the U.S. Department of Education for withholding more than $6 billion in education funding nationwide. Those funds were expected to be accessible July 1.
- North Carolina's portion of that — more than $165 million — made up more than 10% of the state's federal education funding.
- The freeze comes amid what the Trump administration's Office of Management and Budget called an "ongoing programmatic review" and pointed to initial findings that they said "show that many of these grant programs have been grossly misused to subsidize a radical leftwing agenda," Axios' Avery Lotz reported earlier this month.
Driving the news: Nearly 30 statewide full-time jobs would have been in jeopardy had the federal government not released $36 million as part of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program, which supports academic enrichment during non-school hours, per data released by North Carolina's Department of Justice.
- Wake, Durham and Charlotte-Mecklenburg school districts had not been awarded any funding under that program, according to the data.
State of play: Around $130 million in K-12 education funding remains frozen and under review, North Carolina's education department said. More than 900 jobs remain at risk.
- Those funds come from four programs, which support migrant children, help students learn English, ensure the "quality and effectiveness of educators," and improve school conditions and the use of technology to improve academic achievement, according to the Learning Policy Institute, which conducts research to improve education policies.
- "We'll see them in court for the rest," Jackson said in a post on Facebook Monday.