(The Center Square) — The Trump administration has agreed to unfreeze $1.1 billion in federal funding for New York and other states to support academic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic.
New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office said it has reached a deal with the U.S. Department of Education to settle a multi-state lawsuit filed in March alleging the federal agency’s move to claw back the congressionally approved funding violated the Administrative Procedure Act. The AG’s office announced the deal in a letter to U.S. District Court judge Edgardo Ramos, who is presiding over the case.
Under the agreement, James and 16 other Democratic attorneys general who filed the lawsuit have agreed to drop their complaint, with prejudice, once the federal funding has been received by the states.
The money was originally allocated in 2021 under the American Rescue Plan Act and the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, both of which were approved by Congress in response to the pandemic. It was part of a windfall of more than $190 billion that the federal government distributed to public schools during the height of the pandemic.
Then-President Joe Biden administration, which allocated the funding, gave most states an extension to spend their remaining funding through March 2026.
But Education Secretary Linda McMahon announced a freeze of the funding in March, saying the move is part of a wider effort by the Trump administration to eliminate “waste, fraud and overspending” by a bloated federal government. She said school districts have had plenty of time to spend the federal money.
McMahon blamed the former Biden administration for setting an “irresponsible precedent by extending the deadline for spending the COVID money far beyond the intended purpose of the funds” and said “it is past time for the money to be returned to the people’s bank account.”
“Extending deadlines for COVID-related grants, which are in fact taxpayer funds, years after the COVID pandemic ended is not consistent with the department’s priorities and thus not a worthwhile exercise of its discretion,” McMahon wrote in a March 28 letter to school districts.
But James and other AGs said while the COVID-19 emergency has ended, the negative impacts of school closures and on-line learning persist, with students across the country lagging academically.
The AGs said the funding — including more than $130 million for New York — was already being used by schools for after-school and summer learning programs, student mental health services, classroom technology upgrades and other infrastructure needs, all of which would be in danger if the money is pulled back.
“The result of the Education Department’s rescission is a massive, unexpected funding gap that is causing serious harm to the public, cutting off vital education services, all to the detriment of the students whom Congress intended to benefit,” the AGs wrote in the 55-page complaint.
