Nearly half of US states joined in a complaint against President Donald Trump’s administration and the Education Department on Monday over the $6 billion funding freeze for K-12 schools and adult education.
Plaintiffs alleged that defendants, including Education Department (ED) Secretary Linda McMahon, “have irreparably harmed and will irreparably harm” them and “their schools, and the students and families they serve.”
The lawsuit explained how the funding freeze allegedly violates the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), which governs the scope of agency discretion in light of the Constitution and congressional authorization. Plaintiffs relied on the APA to reason that the court should strike down agency actions contrary to federal statutes. In this case, plaintiffs believe that by withholding the funds, the Trump administration has acted contrary to the authorizing statutes, which “affirmatively prohibit such a freeze.”
Plaintiffs also argued the freeze violates the APA’s “arbitrary and capricious” clause, which requires agencies provide a legitimate reason for an administrative action. They claimed that the freeze was provided with “no reasoned basis for deviating from their decades-long forward-funding policy and practice.”
The complaint sought a declaration that the funding freeze is unlawful and to preliminarily and permanently enjoin the Trump administration from implementing it. Claimants also requested to compel the Trump administration to disperse the funds it is withholding.
According to the lawsuit, the ED sent an email on June 30 to the plaintiffs informing them that “decisions have not yet been made” regarding the funding expected for the upcoming academic year. Plaintiffs alleged that those funds should have been made available to them by July 1, to ensure resources could be allocated in time for the incoming school year.
If the funding freeze were to take effect, programs that allow for after-school care for working parents, teach English to non-native student speakers, grow STEM and arts curricula, and establish bullying prevention services in schools could be affected. New York Attorney General Letitia James criticized the freeze, commenting: “The federal government cannot use our children’s classrooms to advance its assault on immigrant and working families.”
California Attorney General Rob Bonta also released a statement concerning the Trump administration’s withholding of the funds:
With no rhyme or reason, the Trump Administration abruptly froze billions of dollars in education funding just weeks before the start of the school year. In doing so, it has threatened the existence of programs that provide critical after school and summer learning opportunities, that teach English to students, and that provide educational technology to our classrooms.
