Trump Releases $1.4 Billion He Withheld From After-School Programs
The Trump administration told states Friday that it will send every state on Monday their formula funding allocations for before- and after-school programs nationwide—but the funding will come with a new requirement for states to certify compliance with federal civil rights laws.
The July 18 announcement to states came more than two weeks after the administration withheld those funds, and billions more dollars for education that Congress approved in March.
The federal Office of Management and Budget told states on June 30 that $6.8 billion wouldn’t flow as expected the next day due to an “ongoing programmatic review.” For the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program, also known as Title IV-B, that review is now complete, an unnamed senior administration official told Education Week through an OMB spokesperson on Friday afternoon.
“Funds will be released to the states,” the statement says. “Guardrails have been put in place to ensure these funds are not used in violation of Executive Orders.”
The grant award states receive on Monday will have a new attached requirement that states will in effect certify when they accept the money, according to a Department of Education notice obtained by Education Week.
Recipients of the funds must not use the funds in ways that violate the U.S. Constitution or any of eight listed federal laws:
- Title VI of the Civil Rights Act (protection against race- and sex-based discrimination in federally funded programs)
- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (protection against race- and sex-based discrimination in employment)
- Title IX of the Education Amendments (protection against sex-based discrimination)
- Age Discrimination Act
- Title II of the Americans With Disabilities Act (protection against disability-based discrimination)
- Boy Scouts of America Equal Access Act (protection against discrimination against Boy Scouts groups based on their policies)
- Section 117 of the Higher Education Act (requirements for higher education institutions to disclose foreign gifts)
“The Department also intends to conduct reviews of grantees’ use of funds to ensure ongoing compliance with the above provisions and all other applicable laws and regulations,” reads the notice, which is signed by two people: Patrick Rooney, the agency’s director of school support and accountability, and La’ Shawndra Scroggins, group leader for the department’s school support and accountability office.
The Department earlier this year told states and districts it would require them to sign a certification letter saying they wouldn’t spend federal funding on anything related to DEI, which stands for diversity, equity, and inclusion. Some states refused to sign, and advocacy organizations successfully sued to block the administration from enforcing the new requirement.
Billions more for education are still frozen
The administration is still withholding more than $5 billion from six other education funding streams that by law were due to flow July 1, including for teacher training, English-learner services, migrant and adult education programs, and academic enrichment.
“Decisions as to other funds referenced in the June 30 notice have not been made at this time,” the July 18 notice reviewed by Education Week says.
K-12 school districts nationwide had been banking for months on receiving, by July 1, routine money for the upcoming school year from dozens of federal funding streams, including one known as Title IV-B, or the 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant program. The program, created by Congress in 1998, is managed by the U.S. Department of Education and helps districts in every state support vulnerable students and provide extra instruction before and after school hours.
But for the last 17 days, states and districts have scrambled as the Trump administration withheld the $1.4 billion Congress allocated for that program in March, plus $5.5 billion more for six other programs, for a combined total of more than $6.8 billion.
Education advocates and Democratic lawmakers have decried the move as unconstitutional and argue that it will directly harm the nation’s K-12 students. Two dozen states sued the Trump administration in federal court on July 14, aiming for an injunction that would restore the funds for their schools. Ten Republican senators later joined the chorus, calling on the administration to release the funding in a July 16 letter.
On July 18, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., posted on X that Russell Vought, director of OMB, had informed her the money will flow.
“This is in direct response to a letter I led my @SenateGOP colleagues on earlier this week,” she wrote. Capito’s letter included signatures from her and nine other Republican senators.
The day before, Sen. Tommy Tuberville told reporters he had spoken with Education Secretary Linda McMahon about the frozen education funds, and planned to do the same Friday night at dinner with President Trump.
News that Title IV-B funds will soon flow should come as a relief to after-school program operators. Many have had to contemplate soliciting donations, scaling back services, canceling expansion plans, or shutting down altogether as the new school year gets underway. Several programs had already moved to suspend summer programming and lay off staff.
Many programs were set to shut down without federal money
More than 1.4 million students nationwide attend programs at 10,000 sites funded almost entirely with Title IV-B dollars, according to the Afterschool Alliance, a nonprofit advocacy group. These programs—often the only such provider in the community—offer academic support, activities and games, and meals for students who might otherwise have nowhere else to go when school isn’t in session.
Dozens of school districts for months had planned to receive at least $1 million each in Title IV-B funds, according to analyses of federal data by Education Week and the progressive think tank New America. One district in California, one in Florida, and three in West Virginia were expecting more than $10 million apiece.
Slightly less than a third of the entire nationwide allocation for schools is destined for three states—California, Texas, and New York. Every state expected at least $6.5 million in Title IV-B funds, according to federal data.
Lawmakers in Idaho last week identified close to $3 million in federal funds left over from the previous year that would help keep after-school programs open until December without federal support.
Congress approved a spending package in March that included level year-over-year funding for federal education grants. Thousands of school districts nationwide have since been crafting budgets assuming they’ll get a wide range of routine federal funding streams, including for Title IV-B.
But one day before the routine July 1 due date for the federal government to supply allocated education funds, the Education Department abruptly told state agencies it would not send out funding the next day for seven grant programs totaling $6.8 billion. The three-sentence memo said the money was under review but didn’t specify when the review would end or whether the money would flow once it did.
Education advocates and federal lawmakers—largely Democrats—remain deeply alarmed that the Trump administration continues to hold back more than $5 billion in allocated education funding without asking Congress permission to do so, as federal law requires.
Mark Lieberman is a reporter for Education Week who covers school finance.