Responding to pressure, much of which came from his own party, President Donald Trump decided Friday to release about $5.5 billion to schools that his administration had surprisingly withheld about a month ago, The New York Times reports.
According to an email message from the US Education Department, funds that will start flowing the week of July 28 include those that support
- Title I-C, ESEA: Migrant Student Education;
- Title II-A, ESEA: Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants;
- Title III-A, ESEA: English Language Acquisition; and
- Title IV-A, ESEA: Student Support and Academic Enrichment State Grants.
Nearly $6.8 billion was withheld only days before it was to start flowing to schools, but $1.4 billion for before- and after-school programs (Title IV-B) had already been released before Friday’s announcement.
Withheld funds, authorized by Congress in March, included money for services related to English learners, migrant students, teacher training, enrichment and afterschool programs, and adult education. More than $2 billion of it was to help train and recruit teachers, particularly in low-income areas that often struggle to attract the most qualified teachers. The withheld money also included funding for arts and music education in low-income districts, additional support for children learning English, and assistance for children of migrant farmworkers.
“The fact that critical education funding could be arbitrarily frozen for weeks without swift intervention is an unacceptable failure,” Chalkbeat quoted a statement from National Parents Union President Keri Rodrigues as saying. “School districts in every corner of the country were thrown into turmoil at a time when they had intended to prepare for the new school year. Hiring plans were put on hold. Services for the most vulnerable students were threatened.”