As Sylvia listed all the ways her life would get more difficult if a summer program that her kid attends for free were to close its doors, a hint of desperation came into her voice.
Sylvia is the only earner for her family—which includes her 10-year-old and her sick mother—because she is a single mother and a janitor.
“I am so exhausted,” Sylvia said AWN through a translator as she collected her son Gabriel from school after a hard day. “Why are you crying, Mom?” Gabriel is asking. So, why are you so upset, Mom?
The charity organization that provides her kid with a secure place to stay, warm meals, and an opportunity to learn English is being targeted by the Trump administration, and she has been sobbing over it, she said. She mentioned privacy concerns related to the present political atmosphere as the reason she chose not to disclose her last name.
More than 10,000 after-school and summer programs around the nation, including Aspire Afterschool Learning in Arlington, Virginia, where Gabriel spends his days during summer break from school, are in a precarious situation due to the Department of Education’s sudden suspension of the grant that supports their operations.
The government abruptly and without warning frozen about $7 billion in education awards this month, including funding for the federal program known as 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC). The programmatic evaluation for the 21st CCLC is concluded, according to an OMB official who talked with AWN on Saturday, following the publication of this piece.
The states will get the funds. The OMB representative stated, “Guardrails have been put in place to ensure these funds are not used in violation of Executive Orders,” but they did not elaborate on the reasons behind the freeze or the other grant funds that were also held.
A study claimed the funds were being used to promote “leftwing” views, which led to the stop. At the same time as the Trump administration is considering drastically cutting funds to the Department of Education and is now laying off thousands of employees, this comes as a blow.
Many of the funds support initiatives that help the poorest children in the United States.
The monies were due to have been sent to the states on July 1st, but on Monday, about twenty states led by Democrats filed a federal lawsuit against the Department of Education, demanding their release. The funds had already been approved by Congress.
Schools and educational systems are preparing for more severe consequences in the autumn, but many summer programs are already struggling to remain open due to the pressure.
Quick thaw, direct effects
Among the many K-12 programs that had their funding halted were those dealing with teacher recruitment and education, English language programs, student enrichment, and nonprofit learning centers that collaborate with schools.
School districts and NGOs who provide free enrichment activities or collaborate with schools to host events all year round are the recipients of the funds allocated by state education authorities through grant programs such as 21st CCLC.
Instead of releasing the money on the scheduled date, the Department of Education sent a letter stating that it will not be paid awaiting a review.
The Department will not be finalizing the evaluation before July 1st, thus grant award notifications will not be issued obligating money for these activities, according to the statement. “We will continue to work toward the goal of allocating public funds in a way that complies with the law and the priorities of the president.”
The freeze has already had an effect, as many programs are wondering if they can remain open this summer.
Paula Fynboh, administrator of the year-round programs organization Aspire, expressed her concern that “we’re punishing a whole lot of students” during an interview.
She is doing her best to collect enough money from student-run lemonade stands and other fundraisers to ensure that the summer school program continues. However, if the funds are still not released by the autumn, she will be forced to inform 25 families that their children would not be allowed to return to the program.
This is a common problem for organizations. “They can try and keep their doors open an extra few days or weeks and maybe if they’re lucky they have a rainy day fund, but you know that’s a Band-Aid that isn’t going to last forever,” said Jodi Grant, executive director of the Afterschool Alliance, a national nonprofit advocacy organization.
President and CEO Jim Clark of the Boys & Girls Club of America, the biggest after-school children program in the country, warned that “the fallout will be swift and devastating” if these monies were to be stopped. According to the Afterschool Alliance, over one-fifth (17%) of the Boys and Girls Club network receives funding from the 21st CCLC award, and many locations are also now operating their summer programs and camps.
According to Clark, if the monies are not given, 926 Boys & Girls Club facilities, which serve over 220,000 children, may be forced to shut down. They “will lose access to essential supports like healthy meals, caring mentors, and safe spaces during the most vulnerable hours of the day,” he warned, especially because many of them come from underprivileged backgrounds.
Adding to the shock, Addie Nardi, who oversees a Boys & Girls Club in a remote area of Maryland around 90 minutes from Washington, DC, described the unexpected funding freeze this month as “a kick to the gut.” She said that the main issue was how they would continue to assist these children.
According to Nardi, primary school kids and their families would be severely impacted if the necessary funding is not secured, since the location is expected to be permanently closed.
Both the completion of the Department of Education review and the resumption of funding are still unknown.
The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) first announced the temporary stop as part of their “ongoing programmatic review of education funding.”
Concerns over the possible misuse of some of the monies by schools were voiced by OMB in a statement.
A radical left-wing ideology has been massively subsidized through the exploitation of several of these funding schemes, according to initial findings. One instance included the use of English Language Acquisition monies by New York City public schools to support groups that advocate for the rights of illegal immigrants. Another included the state of Washington redirecting monies meant for American students’ scholarships to undocumented immigrants. As for the third, a seminar on “queer resistance in the arts” was held using School Improvement funding.
When asked by AWN, OMB failed to present any evidence to support its assertions.
According to Grant of Afterschool Alliance, the action seems drastic.
“If there’s a particular program they’re worried about, they ought to be looking into that program rather than preventing funding for all these other kids across the nation,” Grant remarked, adding, “Nobody even knows what they’re reviewing.”
Especially hurtful, according to American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten, is the decision by Congress to block funding for this summer. “Hurting children and creating chaos” is how she said it about the Department of Education’s decision.
Stay tuned for other challenges
Not only are summer schools fighting for survival right now, but districts and nonprofit education organizations are also preparing for much more trouble come fall.
The New America Foundation, a think tank based in Washington, DC, calculated that school districts will lose an average of $220,289 if the money is kept delayed. Particularly hit would be the poorest areas, which would lose millions.
New America found that “districts serving high-poverty student populations (those where over 25 percent of children live in poverty) will lose over five times as much funding per pupil as low-poverty school districts (those where fewer than 10 percent of children live in poverty)” when comparing their spending per pupil. “The average child poverty rate in the 100 school districts that are experiencing the largest per-pupil budget cuts is 24.4%, which is significantly greater than the national average of 15.3%.”
To help low-income students succeed academically and after school, some school districts partner with nonprofits that get federal funding to provide after-school programs and tutoring.
Many low-income families benefit from Aspire’s after-school activities in Virginia, which are held at a community center and two nearby schools. The majority of Aspire’s student body (99%) comes from low-income, minority families. At least one of the three languages spoken at home by more than 75% is not English.
At the community facility where Aspire’s activities are held, vibrant posters adorn the walls. These programs are open to students in grades 3 to 8. There was a mask-making arts and crafts session going on in one room, and a “pirate day” session going on in another, complete with instructors dressed as pirates answering students’ queries.
As a volunteer service, some current and previous students are passing out snacks: It was blueberry muffins and pineapples on the day AWN came.
At regular intervals, the program concludes and, in a covert manner, provides any remaining food to participating families who would otherwise go hungry.
Children who take part in the program get points for their social and academic accomplishments, and the impact it has is evident. Monserrat, a Bolivian elementary school student about to start fourth grade this coming fall, expressed her joy at having mastered reading and writing.
Moving to the US a year ago with her family, she joined Aspire. She mentioned that Aspire is better than her usual school because it gives her more support and makes her feel more capable.
An upcoming fourth grader named April mentioned that Aspire improved her English skills to the point where she now assists her parents with translation tasks. (For privacy reasons, April and Monserrat’s parents requested that their children’s last names not be used.)
The girls enthusiastically raised both arms over their heads, displaying broad smiles, as asked for their comments on their experiences at Aspire.
Some of the states that have filed lawsuits against the US Department of Education have asked the court to quickly unfreeze their funding by issuing a preliminary injunction.
According to Fynboh, the day Aspire has to shut down is a terrifying prospect.
It will be difficult, Fynboh said, to pass an empty classroom on a daily basis. Everyone here is familiar with these students—their parents, their faces, their names, their backgrounds, their abilities, and the ones who will be cut from the program. And it breaks my heart.
