Attorney General Kris Mayes. Photo by Jerod MacDonald-Evoy | Arizona Mirror
Arizona and nearly two dozen other states are taking the Trump administration to court over its decision to freeze more than $6.8 billion in public education funds, which they warn will cause schools across the country to lay off teachers and shut down critical programs.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes lambasted the decision as unconstitutional and said it would spell disaster for the state.
“It is unlawful for President Trump to hold up this education funding and to wreak absolute havoc on our schools and on our students and families,” she said.
The Democrat has been fiercely critical of the Trump administration and mobilized her office to oppose its actions in court several times. This latest legal challenge is the 21st lawsuit the Grand Canyon State has joined against the federal government since January.
On June 30, just a day before schools were set to receive billions in K-12 funding, the U.S. Department of Education notified state education officials it would hold onto the money to conduct a review of the six federal grant programs it goes towards. Those grants help pay for before- and after-school programs, services for English-language learner students, and migrant education, including for students who transfer from one school to another. The lion’s share, about $2.2 billion, is used for professional development for teachers.
The decision to freeze the money sparked alarm among the public education community just weeks away from the start of the new academic year and prompted school leaders to consider shutting down the affected programs or approving cuts elsewhere to make up the difference.
Mayes’ office estimates Arizona schools will see a loss of more than $132 million, jeopardizing before- and after-school programs, teacher training initiatives and summer school activities. As many as five school districts and a handful of charter schools stand to lose all the funding for their school safety offices, according to information school districts provided the AG’s Office.
And rural and low-income schools are dreading the prospect of staffing cuts. Crane Elementary School District, in Yuma, told Mayes’ office it expects to have to lay off at least one preschool teacher. Colorado River Union High School District in Bullhead City would lose a science and a social studies teacher. Isaac School District in Phoenix could be forced to end its entire band program.
“This is essential education funding that Trump is trying to slash,” Mayes said. “This is funding that keeps the lights on at our schools. It pays for supplies and teachers and school safety officers. The Trump administration is trying to take it all away for absolutely no reason.”
In their brief, the 24 states and Washington, D.C., urge a Rhode Island District Court to compel the U.S. Department of Education to make the funding available. Congress already set aside the money for K-12 schools, according to the states, and clearly mandated that it be accessible starting July 1. Neither the president nor any agency in his administration, reads the lawsuit, has no authority to violate those directives.
“It is Congress, not the Executive Branch, that possesses the power of the purse,” reads the brief. “The Constitution does not empower the Executive Branch to unilaterally refuse to spend funds appropriated by Congress and enacted into law. Yet that is exactly what Defendants are attempting to do here.”
Partisan divide leads to a difference of opinion
While Mayes is adamant that withholding the funds will be detrimental for Arizona schools, the state’s top education official says there’s nothing to worry about. The Arizona Department of Education isn’t involved in the lawsuit, and spokesman Doug Nick said there are no plans to join it, either.
In a video released last week, Superintendent Tom Horne, a Republican and staunch Trump supporter, dismissed the concern over the paused disbursement.
“There is not a freeze,” he said. “The federal government is just studying it.”
Horne added that the review is necessary to root out “instances of far-left ideology” being taught to students, and said he would work with the Trump administration to ensure the money isn’t spent on such goals. And, he said, the amount being withheld is negligible.
“We’re talking about less than 1 percent of the schools’ budgets,” he said. “So, if there actually is a freeze for a particular program they’ve put a high priority on, they can reallocate their own funds. So, it’s not going to be a terrible catastrophe either way.”
The state education department also estimates the cut will only be about $124 million. The projection from Mayes’ office was developed by a former state education official not in conjunction with current leadership.
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This post was originally authored and published by Gloria Rebecca Gomez from AZ Mirror via RSS Feed. Join today to get your news feed on Nationwide Report®.
