Trump freezes nearly $120M in Arizona’s K-12 federal funding

Arizona public schools are short $118 million in federal funding after a decision from President Donald Trump to withhold billions in education funding.

On July 1st, the US Department of Education was supposed to disburse just over $6 billion in federal funding that was already approved by Congress, $118 million of which was intended for Arizona’s public schools. 

Without the funding, schools will either be forced to cut programs—or find different streams of funding to make up for the millions they were shortchanged. 

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Some schools have already accounted for the federal funding in their budgets—which they will not receive. The money was mostly intended to support underserved students, such as migrant students and English-language learners, across five federal programs

“Arizona schools stand to lose nearly $120 million of Congressionally approved funds because President Trump is seeking to dismantle public education,” said Beth Lewis, director of Save Our Schools Arizona, a nonpartisan public school advocacy group, in a press release. “These proposed cuts will have significant and disproportionate impacts on Arizona’s public schools which serve many low-income students, migrant students, and students learning English.”

Across the five federal programs, $375 million was slated for migrant education, $2.2 billion for educator professional development, $890 million for English-learner services, $1.3 billion for academic enrichment, and $1.4 billion for before and after school programs, were withheld from schools nationwide. 

“These funds are critically needed for before- and after-school programs, hiring teachers, and ensuring quality learning supports for all students,” Lewis said. “As many in 2-3 weeks, school leaders are looking to DC for answers.”

The money on hold represents more than 10% of Arizona’s total K-12 funding, which pays for teacher salaries, reading intervention programs, anti-drug campaigns, physical fitness initiatives, credit recovery programs, and so much more, according to the Arizona Education Association.  

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“This is an outrageous attempt to defund public education and steal from the 1.1 million Arizona students who attend public schools,” said Marisol Garcia, president of the Arizona Education Association, the state’s largest teacher’s union, in a press release. “The Trump administration has no authority to withhold funding that was already promised to our districts, and we expect this illegal freeze to be successfully challenged in the courts.”

This pause on federal funding is illegal, as Congress did not approve the withholding or delay of funds that had already been appropriated by Congress, and there will likely be legal challenges against these actions. 

“For our members, this is about more than just numbers on a page,” Garcia said. “If the funding is not released, it will have years-long consequences for our schools and our state as a whole.”