Trump administration withholds billions in school grants for critical programs

William Brangham:

Millions of children and working families will soon feel the impact of a funding freeze that will put a halt to key summer programs for kids and more.

Laura Barron – Lopez has the details.

Laura Barron – Lopez: William, with very little explanation, the Education Department abruptly blocked the release of nearly $7 billion set to be distributed on July 1. The money, which Congress already approved, helped support six grant programs, including after-school and summer learning, English language learning, and professional development for teachers.

For more on what this loss of funding means for students and working families, I'm joined by Jodi Grant, executive director of the Afterschool Alliance.

Jodi, thank you so much for joining us today.

Jodi Grant, Executive Director, Afterschool Alliance:

Thank you for having me.

Laura Barron – Lopez: The start of the school year is just around the corner, a couple of months away, and public schools rely on this funding to keep their after-school programs going. How critical is it for them?

Jodi Grant:

I mean, this is just devastating. This is 1.4 million kids in 10,000 sites across the country.

And I want to be clear, this funding was due on July 1, so we have summer programs that are also in danger of shutting down right now. So there are places where some of the summer camps, summer learning programs won't be able to continue. And then we are just hearing from providers across the country that are extremely alarmed that they may have to close their doors before school opens.

Laura Barron – Lopez: You mentioned summer programs may already feel the effects, but what other programs specifically could be affected by this loss of funding? And which communities may feel it the most?

Jodi Grant:

So it's 10,000 sites across the United States. These tend to be sites that have low income-communities. As I said, they are red, purple, and blue.

And for many of them, this is their source of funding for after-school. So they will — they're doing everything they can to scrimp and save and see if they can keep their doors open a few extra days, a few extra weeks. But I think many of them are in grave danger of shutting down.

And I think the worst-hit communities are going to be rural communities in smaller states, and, of course, the parents, because these programs are an absolute lifeline for working parents and their employers when parents start struggling with being able to go to work because their kids have nowhere to be.

Laura Barron – Lopez: The Trump administration says that this funding is under review. And in a statement from the Office of Management and Budget, they claimed in part — quote — "Initial findings have shown that many of these grant programs have been grossly misused to subsidize a radical left-wing agenda," they say, including for undocumented immigrants and for teaching LGBTQ topics.

What's your response to this?

Jodi Grant:

Yes, my response is, we are talking about 1.4 million kids. These programs are extraordinary; 99 percent of parents that we polled said that their after-school programs are excellent, very good or good; 90 percent of voters across the board said after-school programs are an absolute necessity in their communities.

And there's a reason the public likes these programs so much. It's because of the difference they make. And, as for programs, of course, they follow the law. And if they don't, the U.S. Department of Education can investigate them.

Laura Barron – Lopez: The Trump administration has tried to do this with other pots of federal money, essentially stopping these monies from being disbursed. Judges have ruled against the president, in some cases calling the blocking of this money illegal when he's tried to do it to infrastructure projects.

So I know that some lawsuits are potentially expected specifically on these education cuts. When it comes to how it will impact rural communities, though, specifically, does it impact not just children's learning, but also working parents in those types of communities as they try to make sure that their kids have some engagement while they're at work?

Jodi Grant:

I think the ripple effect is huge. So this is not just impacting children who we know their attendance is better, their behavior is better, their course work is better when they're in after-school programs, but their working parents and then their employers on Main Street.

So you have whole businesses that can be impacted if you stop the funding for some of these after-school programs.

Laura Barron – Lopez: Looking ahead, if these funds stay blocked, are there any other options for these districts? Are there any other sources of funding that they could potentially pull from?

Jodi Grant:

I think most of our school districts — I should say, these grants are state grants that also it's community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, but most of them are really struggling right now.

They're desperate for these funds and they will do everything they can to keep providing services to kids, but we will see a lot of these programs shut down.

Laura Barron – Lopez: Jodi Grant of the Afterschool Alliance, thank you for your time.

Jodi Grant:

Thank you.