Trump administration freezes $6.8 billion in federal education funds; California hit hard
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- Trump is holding back funds to help educate English learners and the children of migrant seasonal workers, among other programs.
- State officials are expected to challenge the moves as illegal.
- The cuts total $6.8 billion nationwide and at least $811 million in California.
The Trump administration on Monday moved to withhold a projected $6.8 billion nationwide in education funds — including at least $811 million from California — money appropriated by Congress to help students who are learning English and those who are from migrant families, as well as funds to boost teacher training, after-school programs and classroom technology.
The administration on Tuesday morning emphasized that no final decision had been made on the release of the funds, and cited instances in which some of the money had been used in ways contrary to its policies.
Although the frozen funds make up less than 1% of California’s total education budget, they have an outsize cumulative effect. And they involve dollars that already have been accounted for in terms of staff hired and programs planned.
“There have been many rumors about the Trump Administration cutting education funding, and now that rumors have become reality, it is worse than we imagined,” said state Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond. “Trump is illegally impounding billions of dollars appropriated by Congress to serve students this fiscal year.”
“This illegal action will harm students starting now,” Thurmond added. “It cannot stand!”
Thurmond and L.A. schools Supt. Alberto Carvalho, speaking in separate news conferences, said they and other California officials, are prepared to pursue legal action. Carvalho said he’d spoken with Gov. Gavin Newsom, who had agreed that the federal action was illegal.
The American Federation of Teachers decried what it called a “decision to illegally freeze essential funding.”
A senior Trump administration official, speaking on a not-for-attribution basis, objected to the use of the word “freeze” by those critical of the move.
“We are conducting a programmatic review and no decision has been made yet,” the official said.
In an 84-word Monday communication to states, the administration listed the affected programs by their federal designation, including Title III-A, which supports students who are learning English. Also listed was Title I-C, which aims to help the children of migrant workers overcome learning challenges. Both programs had all their funds withheld.
Other similarly affected programs were: Title II-A, which provides training for teachers and administrators; Title IV-A, for enhancing the use of technology for academic achievement and digital literacy, and Title IV-B, for before- and after-school and summer programs.
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The federal notification concluded: “The Department remains committed to ensuring taxpayer resources are spent in accordance with the President’s priorities and the Department’s statutory responsibilities.”
The programs noted in the email make up more than 10% of federal spending on K-12 schools in 33 states, according to Learning Policy Institute, a California-based nonprofit.
For some school systems, the federal hold is expected to lead to immediate disruption and layoffs. The Los Angeles Unified School District, however, will use reserves for affected programs while pushing for the release of the federal funds. Ultimately, these funds are paying for hundreds of positions within the nation’s second-largest school system.
The targets of the federal action are not especially surprising — all of the withheld funds are from programs the administration wants to slash or eliminate. And those details — and the justification for them — are clearly spelled out in President Trump’s budget proposal for the next federal fiscal year, which begins in October.
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But the Trump administration is holding back funds that Congress approved for the fiscal year already in progress, which began in October 2024. Because of the way federal, state and local budgets line up, this money was due to reach states Tuesday and to be spent as part of the budget for the school district fiscal year, which also began Tuesday.
School districts — on the expectation they would receive these funds appropriated by Congress — have generally already hired those expected to carry out these programs; many are long-standing efforts.
The Education Department declined to comment late Monday — referring inquiries to the Office of Management and Budget.
The official with OMB elaborated on some of the preliminary findings Tuesday morning related to the funding to help students who are learning English.
“This grant funding, in many cases, was used by states to provide often separate and segregated academic instruction to new English learners, which is in conflict with what the president ran on, what his agenda is. ... He did not want to promote multilingual schools. And, obviously, illegal immigration ties in with this,” the administration official said.
This analysis is supported by the existence of newcomer schools and programs, including in the Los Angeles school system. School district officials, however, have described these programs as intensive, shorter-term efforts that allow students to more quickly integrate effectively into the main education program.
The Trump administration official also cited examples of funding allegedly being used improperly.
“This funding has been used to essentially advocate for illegal immigration,” the official said. One instance, he said, “was the production of this newcomer toolkit, which described illegal immigration as, quote, a healthy contribution to democracy.”
In another instance, the official said, a large school system in the eastern United States “took some of this grant money, ostensibly to support English-language learners, to provide funding for illegal immigrant advocacy organizations, providing legal aid and other things to illegal immigrants.”
The administration already has made clear its rationale for ending these efforts in its budget proposal, which was advancing through Congress on Tuesday.
“To end overreach from Washington and restore the rightful role of State oversight in education, the Budget proposes to eliminate the misnamed English Language Acquisition program which actually de-emphasizes English primacy by funding [nongovernmental organizations] and States to encourage bilingualism,” the administration stated. “The historically low reading scores for all students mean States and communities need to unite — not divide — classrooms using evidence-based literacy instruction materials to improve outcomes for all students.”
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Advocates for English learners support “evidence-based literacy instruction,” but take issue with much of the rest of the administration’s assertions, including the claim that programs to help students learning English are divisive.
“We want our students to gain proficiency in English so that they can access their education in English,” said Martha Hernandez, executive director of Californians Together, a coalition of groups that advocates for English learners. “And the majority of English learners are in English-only settings. These funds help students learn English.”
All children, under long-established federal law, are entitled to a free and appropriate education regardless of citizenship status.
Hernandez said there are about 5 million English learners speaking 100 different languages nationwide — about 1.1 million in California.
The proposed cut to migrant education is justified in budget documents as eliminating “programs that work to the detriment of children’s academic success by encouraging movement from, rather than stability and consistency in, a single location. These programs have not been proven effective, are extremely costly, and encourage ineligible non-citizens to access [services], stripping resources from American students.”
The migrant program’s effectiveness is open to reasonable debate, but the assertion that it encourages lack of stability is difficult to square with the reality on the ground. Los Angeles Unified uses this funding for academic support to provide stability and academic continuity for these students and their families.
Nebraska’s program describes itself as providing “educational services for migrant children to help reduce obstacles that result from repeated moves across school district boundaries.”
For students ages 3 to 5, the effort includes “promoting interest in learning and filling educational gaps at home to prepare students for Kindergarten” and also “helping families find affordable preschool options.”
Other advocates weighed in on other affected funding, including money for academic support outside of the regular school day.
“After-school and summer learning programs are an American success story,” said Jodi Grant, executive director of the group Afterschool Alliance. “If these funds are not released very soon, we will quickly see more children and youth unsupervised and at risk, more academic failures, more hungry kids, more chronic absenteeism, higher dropout rates, more parents forced out of their jobs.”
The funding hold has become yet another area of conflict between the Trump administration and local educators, especially in blue states and urban areas. However, this funding pullback, if it stands, also will fall heavily on rural areas and red states.
In addition to facing a promised legal challenge, Trump’s authority to withhold these funds will almost certainly face scrutiny from Congress.
Federal law prohibits the executive branch from refusing to distribute congressionally appropriated dollars, although the president can ask Congress for permission to hold back funds. Congress has 45 days after such a request is made to approve the president’s action. Otherwise, the money must be spent as originally intended.
Times staff writer Daniel Miller contributed to this report.
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