John,
While the Senate voted this week to claw back billions in previously approved funding, Trump’s administration has already unilaterally frozen nearly $7 billion in public education funds that Congress previously appropriated.[1]
This is theft from America’s schoolchildren. The funds were supposed to go out on July 1 to support K–12 classrooms, teacher training, after-school programs, English-language learners, and more. But the Trump administration put them on ice the day before their scheduled distribution, citing a political “programmatic review.”
The real reason for the freeze is the administration’s broad attack on public education—and public investments in general—that uses federal funding as a political weapon to punish perceived opponents and to further enrich the wealthy.
Trump’s Department of Education claims some districts support a "radical leftwing agenda." The real agenda is paying for tax cuts for billionaires by gutting public education. It's time for Congress to reclaim its power of the purse, to protect our schools, and to stop this administration from using budget sabotage to pay for its tax breaks for the rich.
Trump’s attempt to defund public schools cannot go unchecked. Tell Congress to demand the immediate release of the $7 billion in public education funding.
The cost of Trump’s politically motivated freeze is staggering. 1.4 million students, many in low-income households, could lose summer and after-school programming immediately. Nearly 2 million teachers are cut off from training and professional development, threatening teacher retention, widening learning gaps, and deepening the crisis in public education.
Over 220,000 kids may lose access to safe, stable after-school care as hundreds of Boys and Girls Clubs face closure.[2]
Thankfully, 24 states and D.C. are suing for the release of these funds, sounding the alarm that this illegal impoundment threatens not just education, but Congress’s constitutional authority over spending.
The $7 billion in withheld school funding is just one part of over $425 billion in funds Trump has cancelled, blocked from reaching local communities or is in court trying to block. So the battle over school funding is an urgent fight not only for the classroom, but for democracy and all the causes and communities Trump is attacking by withholding appropriated funds.[3]
Congress must defend its constitutional power of the purse and protect every student and educator who relies on these funds. Demand the immediate release of the $7 billion in public education funding.
Let’s protect schools, students, and teachers by working to stop Trump’s illegal war on public education.
David Kass
Executive Director
Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund
[1] Trump Withholds Nearly $7 Billion for Schools, With Little Explanation
[2] Statement from Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s President & CEO Jim Clark
[3] Trump’s Unprecedented Funding Freeze Hits Communities Across America
