WASHINGTON – Declaring that withholding designated funding is contrary to President Trump’s goals for education, U.S. Sen. Katie Britt joined Sen. Shelley Moore Capito and other Senate Republicans in calling on the Office of Management and Budget to release money that states anticipated receiving July 1.
In a letter to OMB Director Russell Vought, the senators request the administration implement the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Full-Year Continuing Resolution Act, which Trump signed into law this year. This legislation contains critical funding that states rely on to help students, families, and local economies.
Alabama’s impact is more than $72 million, including more than $14 million to North Alabama schools.
“The decision to withhold this funding is contrary to President Trump’s goal of returning K-12 education to the states,” the letter said. “This funding goes directly to states and local school districts, where local leaders decide how this funding is spent, because as we know, local communities know how to best serve students and families.
“Withholding this funding denies states and communities the opportunity to pursue localized initiatives to support students and their families.”
Alabama’s impact includes:
- $2.9 million in Title I-C funds for support services for migrant students,
- $5.7 million in Title III-A funds for support services for English learners,
- $16.3 million in Title IV-B funds for summer and afterschool programs,
- $48 million in Title II-A for teacher salaries and training, including efforts to reduce class sizes
School systems in North Alabama impacted:
- Albertville City Schools – $1,385,175
- Arab City Schools – $60,412
- Athens City Schools – $233,740
- Boaz City Schools – $586,840
- Colbert County Schools – $868,614
- Cullman City Schools – $117,602
- Cullman County Schools – $529,001
- Decatur City Schools – $657,363
- DeKalb County Schools – $1,307,916
- Florence City Schools – $353,286
- Fort Payne City Schools – $218,799
- Guntersville City Schools – $70,482
- Haleyville City Schools – $107,133
- Hartselle City Schools – $79,863
- Huntsville City Schools – $1,551,229
- Jackson County Schools – $1,052,972
- Lauderdale County Schools – $390,567
- Lawrence County Schools – $297,758
- Limestone County Schools – $1,139,550
- Madison City Schools – $328,624
- Madison County Schools – $959,129
- Marshall County Schools – $396,118
- Morgan County Schools – $349,101
- Muscle Shoals City Schools – $149,735
- Russellville City Schools – $402,465
- Scottsboro City Schools – $192,163
- Sheffield City Schools – $387,692
In the letter, the senators hit Vought’s concern about “taxpayer money going to fund radical left-wing programs” in not releasing the money.
“… we do not believe that is happening with these funds,” the senators wrote. “These funds go to support programs that enjoy longstanding, bipartisan support like after-school and summer programs that provide learning and enrichment opportunities for school aged children which also enables their parents to work and contribute to local economies.
“These funds also go to support adult learners. These students are often adults seeking second chances for (myriad) reasons, for example, caregiving responsibilities or financial challenges. These are adult learners working to gain employment skills, earn workforce certifications, or transition into postsecondary education. We should be making educational opportunities easier for these students, not harder.”
Sens. John Boozman (R-Ark.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Jim Justice (R-W.Va.), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) also signed on to the letter.
“We welcome the opportunity to work with you and Secretary McMahon to ensure that all federal education funding goes towards programs that help states and school districts provide students an excellent education,” they wrote. “We want to see students in our states and across the country thrive, whether they are adult learners, students who speak English as a second language, or students who need after-school care so that their parents can work.
“We believe you share the same goal.”
The full text of the letter can be found here.
Last Thursday, 150 House Democrats, including Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Birmingham), also wrote Vought demanding his office release the funds.
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