California officials announced Monday that the state is suing the Trump administration for curbing an estimated $939 million education fund from the state. This was what the district was calling it “illegal, illegal, arbitrary and arbitrary.”
The funds already allocated by the Congress support programs that support students learning English and immigrant families. This money also boosts teacher training, after-school programs and classroom technology. The impact on Los Angeles unification – the country’s second largest school system – was estimated by SUPT. Alberto Carvalho is at least $110 million.
California and three other Democrat-led states are leading the lawsuit on behalf of 23 states, the Democratic Attorney General of Kentucky and Pennsylvania, which have Republican lawyers, and the Democratic Governor of Pennsylvania. The lawsuit was filed Monday in federal court in Rhode Island.
On Monday morning, Trump administration officials said they had no chance to consider the lawsuit yet, but they had no final decision on the release of withheld funds. The administration cites cases where some of the money is suspected of being used in ways that go against its policies. One example is “separately separate academic instruction to new English learners.”
The Trump administration has shut down efforts to promote racial diversity and often sought to punish them. It is considered a form of discrimination and also focuses on debates over LGBTQ+ issues. They also oppose what they consider to be advocacy and support for immigrants who lack legal status to live in the United States.
Pending funds account for less than 1% of California’s education budget, but they have an oversized cumulative effect. And they include dollars already described in terms of hired staff and planned programs.
“Because of no rhyme or reason, the Trump administration suddenly frozen billions of dollars of education funds a few weeks before the start of the school year,” California Atty said. General Rob Bonta said in a statement. “In doing so, it threatens the existence of programs that provide after-school and summer learning opportunities, teach students English, and provide educational skills to the classroom.”
The complaint argues that the constitution does not grant the administrative department “to unilaterally refuse to reject budgets passed in both houses of Parliament and signed into law.”
The case is led by Massachusetts Attorney General, Colorado and Rhode Island. Colorado Gov. Jared Police spoke about the issue last week in a webinar featuring activists and civil servants.
“Many teachers don’t know if they’ll report to their duties — funded by these streams — this is a very last moment and an uncertain decision to withhold billions of dollars from our school,” Police said.
“These are funds the school has already budgeted and the funds were already committed, and the schools must make impossible decisions here 11 hours, days or weeks before people are scheduled to report their jobs.”
Fundraising Freezes blamed on “chaos”
The funds held back are linked to programs that have received these dollars for decades in some cases. Each year, the U.S. Department of Education makes approximately 25% of the funds available to states after July 1st. This allows the district to begin or continue efforts in these areas.
“The plaintiffs’ state has adhered to the funding conditions set out under the law and has a state plan already approved by the Ministry of Education,” according to a statement from Bonta’s office.
This year, instead of distributing funds, the U.S. Department of Education notified the district and state education department on June 30, notifying the affected programs that it is not a “funding obligation.”
In 84-word communication to the state, the administration listed the programs by federal designation, including Title III-A, which supports students studying English. The title IC is also listed. It aims to help migrant workers overcome their learning challenges. All funding was withheld from both programs.
Other similar reduced programs provide training to teachers and administrators. It enhances the use of technology for academic achievement and digital literacy and funds after-school and summer programs.
“This fundraising freeze was quickly thrown into next year’s chaos plan,” according to Bonta’s office. “Local educational institutions have approved budgets, developed staffing plans and signed contracts to provide important educational services under these grants.”
Los Angeles Unification plans to use district reserves to carry affected programs, but the money was already designated for other uses in the long term. Ultimately, hundreds of positions are funded on an estimated $110 million crisis.
When schools began opening nationwide in August, the biggest impact was seen, but it had an immediate impact.
Georgia’s Thomasville Community Resource Center ended its summer program three weeks earlier, affecting more than 300 children in two counties. In Missouri, the Laclede Literacy Council fired 16 of its 17 staff members after adult education funding was hampered.
According to the Texas standard news site, Texas is estimated to be around $660 million in expected education funding. Freezes affects students who study one in four Texas students. From 2024-25, Texas received more than $132 million from the federal government to support these students.
A mountain of rising lawsuits
The Trump administration’s actions and subsequent lawsuits represent the latest in many disputes with California over funding and policy.
Last week, it was the Trump administration that launched the lawsuit, suing California for allowing trans athletes to compete with school sports teams that match their gender identity. The administration argues that state officials are violating federal civil rights laws by discriminating against women. This is a legal action that threatens billions of dollars in the Federal Education Fund.
In line with California law, the state’s education policy specifically allows for campaign participation based on student gender identity.
The amount of money the Trump administration claims is at stake in the crisis is phenomenal, with federal officials citing the $44.3 billion allocated to California this year.
“Potentially, all federal dollars against California’s public agencies are at risk,” said a senior U.S. Department of Education official.
Separately, the department cancelled or amended contracts over $1 billion and changed the grants to “include illegal DEIs or based on alignment with management priorities.”
Overall, California has been involved in more than dozens of lawsuits opposed to the actions of the Trump administration.
“President Trump, who has come along with other attacks on education, seems comfortable putting a generation of academic success at ease and promoting his own misguided political agenda,” Bonta said. “But like many other actions, this funding freeze is blatantly illegal and I am sure the court will agree.”
The lawsuit against the Trump administration has resulted in many restraining orders, but has not halted all major Trump actions related to education and other areas.
Trump argues that he wants to bring education back to the state and cut wasteful, ineffective spending. He also sought to provide greater federal control over education over the issue of so-called culture wars.
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