US to release over $1 billion after-school funding that it withheld

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump’s administration will release more than $1 billion for after-school and summer education programmes it froze two weeks ago under a review that withheld money for a range of K-12 school programmes, a senior administration official said on Friday.

Early in July, the Trump administration said it would not release funding previously appropriated by Congress for schools and that an initial review found signs that money had been misused to “subsidise a radical left-wing agenda.”

States have said $6.8 billion in total was affected by the freeze.

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This week, a coalition of mostly Democratic-led states filed a lawsuit challenging the move, and 10 Republican US senators wrote a letter urging the Republican Trump administration to reverse its decision.

The money covered funding for education of migrant farm workers and their children; recruitment and training of teachers; English proficiency learning; academic enrichment and after-school and summer programmes.

The senior administration official said the review had been completed for after-school and summer programmes. “Funds will be released to the states,” the official said.

“Guardrails have been put in place to ensure these funds are not used in violation of Executive Orders,” the official added without elaborating.

The Trump administration has threatened schools and colleges with withholding federal funds over issues like climate initiatives, transgender policies, pro-Palestinian protests against US ally Israel’s war in Gaza and diversity, equity and inclusion practices.