The move leaves states and schools in limbo as they budget for programs this summer and in the upcoming school year, introducing new uncertainty about when \u2014 or if \u2014 they will receive the money. It also sets the stage for a clash with Democrats, who say the administration is flouting the law by holding back money Congress appropriated.<\/p>\n
Without the money, schools say they won\u2019t be able to provide free or affordable after-school care for low-income kids while their parents work, and they may not be able to hire staff to teach children who are learning English<\/a>. Even classes or camps underway this summer could be in jeopardy.<\/p>\n For instance, the Boys and Girls Clubs of America depend on some of the withheld money to run camps and other summer programming for low-income students. If funding isn\u2019t restored soon, the programming may end mid-season, said Boys and Girls Club President Jim Clark.<\/p>\n After-school programming in the fall could also take a hit. \u201cIf these funds are blocked, the fallout will be swift and devastating,\u201d Clark said. As many as 926 Boys and Girls Clubs could close, affecting more than 220,000 kids, the group said.<\/p>\n Programs that rely on the money were expecting it to be distributed July 1, but an Education Department notice issued Monday announced the money would not be released while the programs are under review. The department did not provide a timeline and warned that \u201cdecisions have not yet been made\u201d on grants for the upcoming school year. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Education Secretary Linda McMahon listens to Senators speak during a Senate Appropriations hearing, Tuesday, June 3, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo\/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)<\/p>\n Education Secretary Linda McMahon listens to Senators speak during a Senate Appropriations hearing, Tuesday, June 3, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo\/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n \u201cThe Department remains committed to ensuring taxpayer resources are spent in accordance with the President\u2019s priorities and the Department\u2019s statutory responsibilities,\u201d Education Department officials wrote in the notice, which was obtained by The Associated Press.<\/p>\n The department referred questions to the Office of Management and Budget, which did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n After-school child care at risk<\/p>\n In Gadsden City Schools in Alabama, officials say they\u2019ll have no choice but to shutter their after-school program serving more than 1,200 low-income students if federal funds aren\u2019t released. There\u2019s no other way to make up for the frozen federal money, said Janie Browning, who directs the program.<\/p>\n Families who rely on after-school programs would lose an important source of child care that keeps children safe and engaged while their parents work. The roughly 75 employees of the district\u2019s after-school programs may lose their jobs.<\/p>\n \u201cThose hours between after school and 6 o\u2019clock really are the hours in the day when students are at the most risk for things that may not produce great outcomes,\u201d Browning said. \u201cIt would be devastating if we lost the lifeline of afterschool for our students and our families.\u201d<\/p>\n Jodi Grant, executive director of the Afterschool Alliance, said withholding the money could cause lasting damage to the economy. <\/p>\n Some advocates fear the grants are being targeted for elimination, which could force schools to cut programs and teachers. Trump\u2019s 2026 budget proposal called for Congress to zero out all of the programs under review, signaling the administration sees them as unnecessary. <\/p>\n Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., pressed the administration to spend the money as Congress intended.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery day that this funding is held up is a day that school districts are forced to worry about whether they\u2019ll have to cut back on afterschool programs or lay off teachers instead of worrying about how to make sure our kids can succeed,\u201d Murray said in a statement.<\/p>\n What the money funds<\/p>\n The six grant programs under review include one known as 21st Century Community Learning Centers. It\u2019s the primary federal funding source for after-school and summer learning programs and supports more than 10,000 local programs nationwide, according to the Afterschool Alliance. Every state runs its own competition to distribute the grants, which totaled $1.3 billion this fiscal year.<\/p>\n Also under review are $2 billion in grants for teachers\u2019 professional development and efforts to reduce class size<\/a>; $1 billion for academic enrichment grants, often used for science and math education and accelerated learning; $890 million for students who are learning English; $376 million to educate the children of migrant workers; and $715 million to teach adults how to read.<\/p>\n These programs account for over 20% of the federal money the District of Columbia receives for K-12 education, according to an analysis<\/a> by the Learning Policy Institute, a think tank. California alone has over $800,000 in limbo, while Texas has over $660,000.<\/p>\n \u201cTrump is illegally impounding billions of dollars appropriated by Congress to serve students this fiscal year,\u201d said Tony Thurmond, California\u2019s state superintendent, in a statement. \u201cThe Administration is punishing children when states refuse to cater to Trump\u2019s political ideology. <\/p>\n The loss of funds could \u201cput several more school districts in extreme financial distress,\u201d said Chris Reykdal, superintendent of public instruction in Washington state. Districts have already adopted budgets, planned programming and hired staff, assuming they\u2019d receive the money, Reykdal said.<\/p>\n If the funding freeze remains, children learning English and their parents would be especially affected. Some districts use the money to pay for summer programming designed for English learners, family engagement specialists who can communicate with parents and professional development training for staff. Rural districts would be hit the hardest. <\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re trying to send a message,\u201d said Amaya Garcia, who oversees education research at New America, a left-leaning think tank. \u201cThey don\u2019t believe that taxpayer funding should be used for these children.\u201d<\/p>\n Umatilla School District in rural eastern Oregon \u2014 with a sizable population of migrant families and students learning English \u2014 relies heavily on federal funding for its after-school and summer school programs. Superintendent Heidi Sipe says she is meeting with state officials soon to find out if the district will have to plan an early end to summer school, an option 20% of students are using. Come this fall, if federal money stays frozen, she\u2019ll have to lay off staff and eliminate after-school programs attended by around half the district\u2019s students.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s an essential service in our community because we don\u2019t have any licensed child care centers for school-age children,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Sipe said it\u2019s particularly frustrating to deal with these funds being put into limbo because the school district was in the middle of a five-year grant period.<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels preventable,\u201d she said, \u201cand it feels as though we could have done a better job planning for America\u2019s children.\u201d <\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n The Associated Press\u2019 education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP\u2019s standards<\/a> for working with philanthropies, a list<\/a> of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Day camp providers and schools are warning that a Trump administration funding freeze could wreck…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":32292,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[27131,12955,27135,13915,64,2059,276,245,27134,12785,84,69,407,4934,57,27137,27138,27136,27133,1165,2741,2735,50,6065,212,27130,80,358,27132,5028,17850,61,67,370,132,68,2057,2058,93],"class_list":{"0":"post-32291","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"category-us","9":"tag-al-state-wire","10":"tag-alabama","11":"tag-amaya-garcia","12":"tag-back-to-school","13":"tag-business","14":"tag-ca-state-wire","15":"tag-california","16":"tag-children","17":"tag-chris-reykdal","18":"tag-dc-wire","19":"tag-district-of-columbia","20":"tag-donald-trump","21":"tag-education","22":"tag-education-funding","23":"tag-general-news","24":"tag-heidi-sipe","25":"tag-janie-browning","26":"tag-jim-clark","27":"tag-jodi-grant","28":"tag-lifestyle","29":"tag-maine","30":"tag-me-state-wire","31":"tag-news","32":"tag-or-state-wire","33":"tag-oregon","34":"tag-patty-murray","35":"tag-politics","36":"tag-texas","37":"tag-tony-thurmond","38":"tag-tx-state-wire","39":"tag-u-s-department-of-education","40":"tag-u-s-news","41":"tag-united-states","42":"tag-united-states-government","43":"tag-unitedstates","44":"tag-us","45":"tag-wa-state-wire","46":"tag-washington","47":"tag-washington-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n