$3 billion yanked from schools to help pay for Trump’s tax cuts
At the end of March, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon sent a letter to state school officials across the country declaring that the federal government was abruptly ending pandemic-related relief funding a year early. Without the already-approved funding, many schools will not have the money for literacy and tutoring programs, or to update or repair school buildings.
Many states and school districts received “liquidation extensions” from the Biden administration that allowed them to continue to use the money on approved projects through next spring. But on March 28, McMahon decided that the Biden administration’s extension “was not justified.” McMahon’s letter “amend[ed] the period of liquidation to end on March 28, 2025, at 5:00pm ET,” the same day the letter was sent, giving states and school districts no time to make any adjustments.
In the letter, McMahon wrote that “[e]xtending 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.” The letter includes an option for extension “on an individual project-specific basis.” But to apply for an extension, states must prove “how a particular project’s extension is necessary to mitigate the effects of COVID on American students’ education” and explain "why the Department should exercise its discretion to grant your request."
According to The 74, McMahon’s decision puts states at risk of “losing close to $3 billion in remaining COVID relief funds.” Some states, including Texas and Pennsylvania, could lose “over $200 million in unspent funds.”
The Trump administration’s decision to claw back pandemic relief funds from schools is part of the administration’s attempt to find savings in the federal budget to offset the extension of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, which would “add an estimated $4.6 trillion to the debt over the next decade,” according to The Hill. Trump is also proposing new additional tax cuts, including exempting tipped incomes and Social Security benefits, which would cost between “$150 billion and $250 billion over 10 years” and “$1.5 trillion over a decade,” respectively.
On April 10, 16 Democratic attorneys general and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro (D) sued the Trump administration over access to the approved COVID-related relief funds, stating that the “abrupt halt of hundreds of millions of dollars of promised funding will force cuts to vital services.” The lawsuit argues that the Trump administration is violating federal law by arbitrarily withdrawing the extended access to the funds.
Literacy programs and teacher training gutted
The sudden rescission of pandemic-era funds leaves schools across the country, including many in states that voted for Trump in 2024, scrambling to find a way to cover the cost of contracts they have already signed. For some states, this will mean dipping into savings or cutting back spending in other areas to cover projects they budgeted with COVID-relief funds.
Literacy programs will take a heavy hit across the country. States have used relief funds to pay for tutors and programming to help students catch up on reading skills that may have lapsed during the pandemic. In Nebraska, the state’s Department of Education was forced to cancel three programs meant to boost reading skills and stop a project to distribute free books to Nebraska families and schools. A literacy tutoring program is also under threat in Ohio, but school district officials say they will keep the program going using other funds.
Some of the literacy programs now in jeopardy were meant to provide teachers supplemental training on literacy instruction to ensure that students are benefiting from updated, evidence-based methods. Kansas, for example, has spent over $7 million on literacy and math training for its teachers — money which the Department of Education says it will no longer reimburse. Kentucky may have to stop providing teachers with free access to literacy training.
In several states, teachers risk losing access to other professional development resources. In Kansas, $230,000 earmarked for principal and superintendent development is now frozen, and those seeking to become early elementary educators will have to cover their own licensing and background check fees. A program in South Dakota to help paraeducators get a teaching degree at a reduced cost has lost some of its funding.
Many summer educational opportunities are also in danger without support from the federal government. In Vermont, public school officials were in “absolute shock” when they found out the $200,000 they were expecting from the federal government to pay for an elementary school summer camp would not arrive. The five-week camp, with up to 400 participants, offered field trips, cooking classes, and meals at no cost to families. Kentucky, Mississippi, Connecticut, and South Dakota have also lost funding for summer programming.
The loss of pandemic-relief funds will also impact multiple projects across states to update older school buildings, improve HVAC systems, modernize school technology, and provide services for homeless students and families.
A) ‘permitting’ states to try to justify any further access to these funds is simply a way to steer them exclusively to red states that find ways to kick some back to T & cronies.
B) How often do we have to see this before we get it? T’s not trying to govern well. Or. at. all. He’s trying to actually destroy government so he can rape everything he covets.
(& Believe him when he says he wants to deport or ‘lock xyz up’. He will try.)
C) saying it is ‘to pay for tax relief’ lends it a rationale and air of legitimacy that is wholly unwarranted and misleading; the purpose is private grifting, graft, and extortion of public assets!
If the cost of a billionaire getting a 2nd yacht is some kids not getting access to books and camps, you have to do it.