Trump’s Unlawful Funding Freeze Threatens Critical Student Supports

The Trump administration is withholding $5.6 billion in education funding that was already approved by Congress and slated to go out on July 1 and has offered to release another $1.3 billion only if states provide new assurances. These unexplained and unprecedented moves threaten to destabilize school budgets and directly affects students and educators. 

On June 30, the Department of Education announced to state education associations in a three-sentence email that it would withhold almost $6.9 billion in funding. But on July 18, after facing bipartisan pressure, the administration said it would release $1.3 billion in grants for summer and after-school programs if states provided new assurances as to how the funds would be spent. 

Still, schools have to prepare to begin the next school year without the other $5.5 billion in previously approved funds that they were counting on. There are districts in every state scrambling to figure out how they will continue to meet student needs if the rest of the funding isn’t released.

School districts now have to prepare to begin the next school year without the billions in previously approved funds that they were counting on. There are districts in every state scrambling to figure out how they will continue to meet student needs if the funding isn’t released. 

Kristy Mosby, an elementary STEM teacher and president of the Little Rock Education Association in Arkansas, has already received a call from a devastated member who does not know if she’ll have a job this year, even though she has already signed a teaching contract for 2025-2026. 

“Just weeks before the start of the school year, she receives a letter saying that her position is affected by the withholding of federal funds,” says Mosby. “And she’s not sure if they're going to find her another position now.” 

Educators in Arkansas lost job protections last year when the state legislature made sweeping changes to the Teacher Fair Dismissal Act, leaving them more vulnerable to reductions in force. 

Mosby says based on an initial communication from the superintendent, it isn’t clear yet how the withholding of funds will force cuts to other programs and positions. But she suspects she will hear from more affected members in the runup to August 4—the first day of school for teachers in Little Rock.   

Which Students Will Be Most Affected?

Without question, Trump’s funding freeze will disproportionately hurt students from low-income families, students of color, and newcomer students. 

Here is a summary of the affected programs from the Committee on Education Funding—a coalition of organizations that advocate for funding for public schools, of which NEA is a part: 

• $376 million for migrant education;
• $890 million for English language acquisition;
• $1.38 billion for student support and academic achievement;
• $2.190 billion for educator professional development; and
• $715 million for adult education and family literacy state grants.

The only explanation offered by the administration is that this funding is undergoing review to ensure that these programs align with President Trump’s priorities.

 Educators know what a difference these funding programs make in a school’s ability to support every student who comes through the schoolhouse doors. When educator positions are lost, class sizes get bigger and students get less one-on-one attention. 

“Will we lose some of the teaching positions that serve our students learning English?” Mosby asks. “I worry about that.” 

News of the withheld funds has also weighed heavily on Zander Epps, a math teacher at Monterey Community School in Denver, Colo.  

“[M]y mind immediately went to the hard-working minority families in the community that I serve,” he said. “Families in my community depend on these programs.” Roughly 75 percent of students at his school are low income. Nearly 40 percent of students in his district are English language learners.  

What Happens Next?

The Trump administration would have to work with Congress to permanently withhold the money. Educators are not waiting around for the administration’s next move.  

NEA, NAACP, and a coalition of other plaintiffs and supporters have moved for a preliminary injunction to stop the Trump administration’s unlawful actions to dismantle the Department of Education, including the illegal withholding of federal funding for public schools. The suit argues that the administration’s delay is a clear violation of the Constitution’s Take Care Clause and the separation of powers, which bar the executive branch from withholding appropriated funds without Congressional approval. 

“Outrageous and unconscionable”—that’s how NEA President Becky Pringle describes the Trump administration’s latest action. 

“Sadly, this is part of a broader pattern by this administration of undermining public education—starving it of resources, sowing distrust, and pushing privatization at the expense of the nation’s most vulnerable students,” says Pringle.  
 
“Educators and parents will not be silent while students are undervalued, unheard, and unsupported. The Trump administration must release these critical funds as required by law. We will stand up, speak out, and take action.”  

Kristy Mosby has a few choice words for policymakers as well: “Some elected leaders are constantly talking about how public schools are failing our kids, but it’s them withholding funding that supports the students with the most needs,” Mosby says. “So, who's really failing the students?  

“I say put your money where your mouth is. If you're really for public schools, then give them the funding they need to support the kids that need it the most.”