Education Department will release some frozen grants supporting
after-school and summer programs
[July 19, 2025]
By ANNIE MA
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Education Department will release $1.3 billion in
previously withheld grant money for after-school programs, days after 10
Republican senators sent a letter imploring the Trump administration to
allow frozen education money to be sent to states.
President Donald Trump’s administration on July 1 withheld more than $6
billion in federal grants for after-school and summer programs, adult
literacy and English language instruction, part of a review to ensure
spending aligned with the White House’s priorities.
In a letter sent Wednesday, Republican senators said the withheld money
supported programs that had longstanding bipartisan support and were
critical to local communities. The money had been appropriated by
Congress in a bill that was signed by Trump.
“We share your concern about taxpayer money going to fund radical
left-wing programs,” the senators wrote to the Office of Management and
Budget. “However, we do not believe that is happening with these funds.”
The administration's review of the 21st Century Community Learning
Centers, which support after-school and summer programming, has been
completed, a senior official said Friday. The person declined to be
identified so they could share progress from the review. That funding
will be released to states, the official said. The rest of the withheld
grants, close to $5 billion, continues to be reviewed for bias by the
Office of Management and Budget.
Without the money, school districts and nonprofits such as the YMCA and
Boys and Girls Club of America had said they would have to close or
scale back educational offerings this fall.
The money being released Friday pays for free programming before and
after school and during the summer. The programs provide child care so
low-income parents can work, and they give options to families who live
in rural areas with few other child care providers. Beyond just child
care, kids receive reading and math help at the programs, along with
enrichment in science and the arts.
Despite the money's release Friday, schools and nonprofits have already
been disrupted by two weeks of uncertainty. Some programs have made
plans to close, and others have fallen behind on hiring and contracting
for the fall.
“While we are thrilled the funds will be made available," said Jodi
Grant, executive director of the Afterschool Alliance, “the
administration’s inexplicable delay in disbursing them caused massive
chaos and harm." Many after-school programs had canceled plans to open
in the fall, she said.
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Jillian Murphy high-fives Gaizka Accius, 6, after working through a
math problem during the East Providence Boys and Girls Club Summer
Camp at Emma G. Whiteknact Elementary School on Thursday, July 10,
2025, in Providence R.I. (AP Photo/Sophie Park)
On Monday, more than 20 states had filed a lawsuit challenging the
$6 billion funding freeze, including the money for English language
instruction, teacher development and adult literacy that remains on
hold. The lawsuit, led by California, argued withholding the money
was unconstitutional and many low-income families would lose access
to critical after-school care if the grants were not released.
David Schuler, executive director of AASA, an association of school
superintendents, praised the release of after-school money but said
that the remaining education funding should not be withheld.
“Districts should not be in this impossible position where the
Administration is denying funds that had already been appropriated
to our public schools, by Congress,” Schuler said in a statement.
“The remaining funds must be released immediately — America’s
children are counting on it.”
Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-West Virginia, who chairs
the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees education
spending, led the letter sent this week by Republican senators,
protesting the funding freeze. The letter called for the rest of the
money to be released, including funds for adult education and
teaching English as a second language.
“The decision to withhold this funding is contrary to President
Trump’s goal of returning K-12 education to the states,” the
senators wrote. “This funding goes directly to states and local
school districts, where local leaders decide how this funding is
spent.”
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, called on the White House to
release the rest of the money.
“At this very moment, schools nationwide are crunching the numbers
to figure out how many teachers they will need to lay off as Trump
continues to hold up billions in funding,” Murray said Friday in a
statement. “Every penny of this funding must flow immediately.”
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