Read our editorial on the attacks on public education here.
On June 30, the Trump administration sent an email to states informing them that they would not release $6.7 billion in federal funding expected to go out to the school districts on July 1st. The withheld federal funds include $2.2 billion for teacher training, $1.4 billion for before- and after-school programs, and $1.3 billion for academic enrichment programs like college readiness and STEM opportunities.
Additionally, the withheld funds include $890 million to English Language Learners (ELLs) to develop language skills and $375 million to provide academic support for children of migrant farmworkers, marking an indirect attack as part of the campaign to terrorize immigrants on multiple fronts.
On July 4, Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” passed with an additional dollar-to-dollar tax credit for donations able to fund school vouchers, creating a loophole for federal funding for voucher schools.
These are all part of the ultra-reactionary attacks on the people’s right to public education and an extension of the government’s attacks on migrants as a response to the economic crisis. This latest move to withhold federal funds is masked by jingoism and fear-mongering against immigrants and “radical left ideologies”. They build off of previous attacks earlier this year: in February, cuts were made to the Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) Grant Program, ending many teacher certification pathways, and in March the DoE cut it’s workforce in half.
In the announcement, the U.S. Department of Education (DoE) wrote, “The Department remains committed to ensuring taxpayer resources are spent in accordance with the President’s priorities and the Department’s statutory responsibilities”. In the pushback against the impoundment of fund, the DoE has directed the inquires to the White House Office of Management and Budget. In a statement on their “initial findings”, the Office’s spokesperson said that they “have shown that many of these grant programs have been grossly misused to subsidize a radical leftwing agenda.” They claim, without documentation, that they found some examples in New York schools where they used English Language acquisition funds to “promote illegal immigration advocacy organizations” and Washington state schools directed “illegal immigrants towards scholarships intended for American students.”
School districts rely and plan on having this federal funding, and now that it is withheld, it has sent education officials scrambling to adjust to the deficit by slashing programs, adding on to other cuts due to longstanding massive budget deficits.
Now without the funds, staff compensation, school programs, and summer school funding is in limbo. One of the biggest hits will be towards Title III funds, which would hurt schools’ ability to hire translators and staff able to work with multilingual students and immigrant families. The states with the largest withheld amounts are New York ($411 mil), Texas ($660 mil), and California ($810 mil). For areas like Vermont, District of Columbia, and the Northern Mariana Islands, these cuts affect over 20% of their total federal budget.
Photo: Trump signs the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” on July 4, 2025.
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