Trump Admin Withholding ESEA Funds

A story getting precisely zero attention outside of ESEA grant admin circles is that the Trump administration has yet to issue preliminary allocations for Titles IIA (professional development funds) and IIIA (ELL funds). States normally get these with their other ESEA figures in the early spring, but so far only Title IA and IVA figures have been released. The career professionals at ED (US Department of Education) are stating that OMB (Office of Management and Budget) has yet to tell them what the figures are, which were a part of the Continuing Resolution this spring.

The prevailing thought is that the Trump administration is slow walking the allocations so they can say they are “working on them” but in reality intend to illegally impound them (never allocate them to the states).

Why should you care? Not only is it a multi-billion dollar cut to education that goes against the wishes of Congress, but it also will have very really impacts on teachers and students. Not only are these funds broadly used for PD and ELL students, but they also fund a massive number of teaching positions across the country. Were you hired as part of a class-sizes reduction initiative or are you an instructional coach? Title IIa probably paid for that. In many small states, school districts transfer their Title IIA into Title I so they can operate more robust programs. With most school budgets already passed, this will mean either unprecedented cuts before the next school year even starts, or likely layoffs.

What can you do? Reach out to your legislative representatives and urge them to have OMB release the funding to ED. Despite what you may hear and see on the news, there is still some signs that this administration caves under pressure, specifically at ED.

TLDR; Trump hasn’t released all the ESEA funds approved by Congress for the coming school year, and it could cost you or your colleagues their job. Call your Senator or Representative and make some noise!

Submitted June 27, 2025 at 02:53PM by rinoblast https://ift.tt/z9HqSNt