The Trump administration’s decision to withhold billions of dollars in congressionally approved money for the country’s schools—roughly $108 million of which were supposed to arrive in the Bay State’s coffers on July 1—is being denounced by the Healey administration.
Students and school districts around the state would be impacted by the Commonwealth’s decrease, according to the governor’s office, which claims that the hold on the more than $6 billion in education funds approved by Congress is unprecedented.
According to a statement sent exclusively to the Herald, Governor Maura Healey stated that every day that passes without this education funding harms kids, teachers, communities, and our economy. Districts will be compelled to reduce staff, postpone or discontinue services and activities, and interfere with instruction in the absence of this money. The Trump Administration must provide the funds that was promised to our schools.
Attorney General Andrea Campbell warned the Herald Thursday that if the Department of Education does not quickly overturn the decision, she will file a lawsuit.
More evidence that the Trump Administration does not care about our kids, families, or schools comes from its decision to withhold billions of dollars in funding. “We will see the Trump Administration in court if they do not take immediate action to fulfill their legal obligations to our schools,” Campbell stated.
“The funds are being held for review to ensure they are in compliance with the Trump Administration’s policies against using federal dollars to support LGBTQ initiatives or for the education of undocumented migrant students,” the federal Office of Management and Budget said in a statement on Wednesday.
OMB says such spending is blatantly political.
According to the Office of Management and Budget, a number of these grant programs have been egregiously abused to fund extremist left-wing agendas.
The governor’s office claims that the funds are utilized for a wide range of school-related activities, such as after-school and summer programs, behavioral and mental health assistance, bullying prevention and intervention, lowering chronic absenteeism, purchasing classroom supplies and materials, and more.
According to Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler, Bay State kids are suffering as a result of the instability caused by federal activities. He added that the president has no authority over it.
Donald Trump does not have the authority to arbitrarily determine which pupils and educational institutions should receive government funding. According to him, states must receive the monies that Congress provided.
The Trump Administration is presently examining five programs for compliance, according to an unsigned email issued Monday to state education departments, according to Education Week magazine.
In addition to $1.4 billion from the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program to fund after-school programs, the federal government is also reviewing $375 million in funding from the federal 60-year-old Migrant Education Program, $2.2 billion for teacher professional development funded by the Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants program, and $890 million from the English Language Acquisition State Grants program for non-native English speakers.
According to the education magazine, the Administration reportedly also told congressional workers on Tuesday that they would not be allocating $729 million for basic education and adult literacy initiatives.
Although such programs were budgeted at those levels in fiscal 2025 and were anticipated to be delivered on Tuesday at the beginning of this fiscal year, the White House’s s2026 budget proposal seeks to completely eliminate them.
After Congress passed a continuing resolution to keep the government funded through the end of fiscal 2025, President Donald Trump signed into law all of the delayed funding this past spring.
The Herald wire service made a contribution.
