School districts face uncertainty following budget cuts, but some welcome reevaluation of funds
As a new school year approaches, multiple school systems around the country told ABC News that a Department of Education funding freeze is causing confusion.
Some school districts told ABC News education cuts are illegal and will hurt students, but others said they support the Trump administration's decision to reevaluate the department's funding.
"Of course states and programs rely on these federal funds but we also rely on the president's leadership to ensure they are aligned with our values," Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder said in a statement to ABC News.
Alaska's largest school district, a collection of Democratic states ranging from California to Rhode Island, and advocacy groups across the country have sued the Trump administration over the $6 billion funding freeze of valuable education programs.
"There's going to be a direct impact in every single school in our nation. And I think people forget that," Rhode Island Department of Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green told ABC News.
"I am here today because of the teachers, the education that I got, and it actually is a game changer," Infante-Green, who is a first-generation American and learned English through school, said. "It changes the lives of not just the students, but the community as a whole. They can participate in the American dream."
Although some states support the administration's decision, Infante-Green has called it "illegal."
"These are dollars that were appropriated by Congress, and this [pause] hurts kids." she said.
A pause on the total $6 billion funding happened on July 1, when federal aid for schools is typically allocated each year. However, states were notified on June 30 that an ongoing programmatic review of education funding would occur, according to a Department of Education memo sent to Congress, obtained by ABC News. School districts and programs have been concerned that programs and staff could be eliminated if funding isn't restored.
These funds are used to aid after-school programs, English learning acquisition, adult basic education, and many more important initiatives. States received a letter from Congress that said there would be a programmatic review to ensure the legitimacy of each program as the Office of Management and Budget suggested these programs have become misused to promote "radical left wing agendas."
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaksa, and nine other Republican senators signed onto a letter last week requesting the Trump administration reverse the funding pause, which they said prompted the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to unfreeze more than $1 billion in after-school and summer learning funding.
However, OMB did not indicate whether it would be unfreezing the rest of the roughly $6 billion in federal funds for programs.
Despite the uncertainty caused by the education funding freezing, the Montana Office of Public Instruction Superintendent, Susie Hedalen, is supportive of the funding pause and feels confident that Montana will see its funding soon.
"I appreciate that they're [the funding] being evaluated and that we're taking a close look, because we don't need federal funds with the strings attached. We don't need the bureaucracy, and we need to make sure that we can use our funding to align to our values, not the agendas from the bureaucrats in DC," Hedalen told ABC News.
Echoing other conservative education leaders who've spoken with ABC News about the pause, Hedalen believes there is a need to reevaluate the funding.
"I appreciate the President's approach to take a critical look at our funding streams. That's long overdue," Hedalen said. "We are optimistic in Montana that those will continue to flow. But we do think it's important that we take a close look, and we are looking forward to having education returned to the state agencies," Hedalen added.
While there is ultimately a divide regarding the funding, Infante-Green suggested most states are concerned that the pause potentially hurts kids, "everybody understands that this is not a political issue," she said, "this is about our students."
