Education Department releasing billions in withheld grant money for schools
Washington — The Trump administration is releasing billions of dollars in grants to schools for adult literacy, English language instruction and other programs, the Education Department said Friday.
President Trump's administration had withheld more than $6 billion in funding on July 1, as part of a review to ensure spending aligned with the White House's priorities.
The funding freeze had been challenged by several lawsuits as educators, members of Congress from both parties and others called for the administration to release money schools rely on for a wide range of programs. Congress had appropriated the money in a bill signed this year by Mr. Trump.
A senior administration official confirmed the release of the funds, and said "[g]uardrails are in place to ensure these funds will not be used in violation of Executive Orders or administration policy." A spokesperson for the Department of Education said the Office of Management and Budget had completed its review of the programs and the money would be begin to be dispersed next week.
Last week, the department said it would release $1.3 billion of the money for after-school and summer programming. Without the money, school districts and nonprofits such as the YMCA and Boys and Girls Club of America had said they would have to close or scale back educational offerings this fall.
The release of that money came days after 10 Republican senators sent a letter imploring the administration to allow frozen education money to be sent to states. Those senators had also called for the rest of the money to be distributed, including funds for adult education and teaching English as a second language.
Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia was among the lawmakers calling for the release of the grants.
"The programs are ones that enjoy longstanding, bipartisan support," she said. She pointed to after-school and summer programs that allow parents to work while their children learn and classes that help adults gain new skills, contributing to local economies.
In withholding the funds, the Office of Management and Budget had said some of the programs supported a "radical leftwing agenda. "
"We share your concern," the GOP senators had written. "However, we do not believe that is happening with these funds."
School superintendents had warned they would have to eliminate academic services without the money. On Friday, AASA, an association of superintendents, thanked members of Congress for pressing to release the money.
In Harford County, Maryland, some of the withheld federal money made up more than half the budget for the district's annual summer camp for kids learning English. The money helps the district hire certified teachers to staff the camp, incorporating learning into children's play for four weeks during the summer. The program helps kids keep their English and academic momentum over the summer.
The district serves roughly 1,100 students who are non-native English speakers. Many of them are born in the U.S. to parents who came to the area seeking job opportunities, often in the restaurants and warehouses that have popped up in the past decades in the region northeast of Baltimore. During the school year, the soon-to-be-released federal money pays for tutors for kids learning English.
On Thursday, more than 350 children filled the second floor of Bel Air High School for the second-to-last day of summer camp. Young learners crowded around an alphabet wheel, jostling with each other to push each letter button as they thought of foods starting with letters from A to Z.
Middle school students watched a robotics team demonstration, and a few sheepishly raised their hands when asked if they would be interested in joining. High school student volunteers, some of whom had been campers learning English themselves not many years ago, helped the youngest children with art projects.
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