Newcomer centers opened to ease immigrant students鈥� transition to school? Closed. 

Hiring new English language learner teachers? Suspended.

These are among the tangible effects of the Trump administration’s targeting services and supports that go toward educating more than 5 million English language learners in the nation’s K-12 public schools.

And there are other, more subtle changes: Many newcomer students, in light of the president’s aggressive deportation campaign, are now too afraid to answer simple questions, the type that not only shed light on their lives but give insight into their academic needs. 

鈥淚鈥檓 hesitant to have all the conversations about country of origin 鈥� conversations that celebrate diversity and create a community culture of inclusion 鈥� because now if you ask a kid 鈥榃here are you from鈥� or 鈥榃here were you born鈥� you visually see their walls go up,鈥� said Texas teacher Tammy Ingraham Baggett.

Through multiple directives, the Trump administration has gutted the Education Department, including its Office of English Language Acquisition, leaving it with just . The administration rescinded critical guidance on earlier this year while the president鈥檚 proposed 2026 budget to support multilingual learners in the classroom. 

Alejandra V谩zquez Baur, a fellow at The Century Foundation, a progressive think tank, and director of the , a coalition of over 150 educators, researchers, and advocates from 35 states, said such cuts would have a 鈥渟ubstantial, devastating impact.鈥�

Her organization joined forces with another group, Immigrant Connections, to ask educators this past summer to describe what would be sacrificed. Oklahoma, which would lose $6.4 million in funding, would no longer be able to meet multilingual learners鈥� needs, education leaders said. 

The state would lose valuable school programs, professional development and family engagement geared toward these students 鈥� including translation and interpretation services. Likewise, Virginia, V谩zquez Baur said, could lose $17.5 million, which would bring about a cascade of cuts, including tutoring for English learners and critical support for students who have gaps in their education. 

鈥淎nd we know when we lose funding for some groups of students, it hurts all students because resources are pushed to the very edge,鈥� she said. 

Teachers whose multilingual learner programs have already been axed are giving away their textbooks online, hoping they could be of use in another location, and some schools have suspended hiring new English learner teachers, unsure of how many students will show up and attend these classes, immigrant student advocates tell 社区黑料. 

Schools could be further hampered in serving these students by the federal government’s recent retreat from its monitoring and oversight role. Without that, V谩zquez Baur said, it’s up to states to hold themselves accountable for meeting their legal obligations to educate these children.

She expressed hope that educators will continue to follow the old directives, even in states that support Trump.

鈥淧olitics have taken over many state legislatures 鈥� including some state agencies 鈥� but at the district level, no matter what state you’re in, people are committed to supporting these students,鈥� she said. 

JoAnne Negr铆n has worked with multilingual learners in New Jersey for much of the past three decades. She’s retired from her full-time post and now serves as a consultant.

Negr铆n said she has worked hard to identify newcomer parents so that they could fill much-needed positions in the school system, their Ukrainian and Spanish language skills in great demand as the local immigrant population increased in recent years. 

鈥淲e were perennially short on classroom aides,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd parents needed jobs to get settled. So, I started helping them through the process and getting aides in every school that needed them. It was a win for all. We solved a staffing issue, the parents got a paycheck, we got school-level language assistance and the kids got to have a parent in the building while they acclimated.鈥�

But Negr铆n worries this effort could be lost: She鈥檚 particularly concerned about a Venezuelan woman and her husband who were recently hired by the district as bilingual math and science teachers. 

鈥淚 spent hours over Zoom helping them sign up for assessments and then walking them through New Jersey certification,鈥� she wrote in a Facebook message. 鈥淎t that point, I told our HR director to make them his first, best offer because they would soon figure out how valuable they are. He brought them in for around $70,000 each. Now, two years later, they own a home, have pets, they鈥檙e part of the community, and they are happy and settled in.鈥�

But it鈥檚 they will be permitted to stay. 

鈥淚 hate this not only for these teachers, but because I don鈥檛 know what the district will do if it loses them,鈥� she said. 

Amy Halsall, a teacher in Indianapolis, said her school has not received funds for professional development so conferences are not being offered 鈥� or educators are required to pay for it themselves. 

鈥淲e normally have funds for supplies and materials and that is on hold,鈥� she said. 鈥淒ue to funding cuts and federal policies where parents have to reveal their status, our district is not offering adult ESL classes. We have to be very creative in how we help.鈥�

And newcomer students to her school are scarce, she said: There were just two this year compared to 10 last year. 

Perhaps the greatest loss to Ingraham Baggett鈥檚 district, she said, was of the newcomer centers, which were, until recently, thriving inside nine of the district鈥檚 12 high schools. 

Each campus served 20 to 50 such students, she said, with 250 total and four to six teachers per site. Ingraham Baggett, the longest-serving biology teacher in the program, piloted the science courses, wrote most of the curriculum materials and led districtwide training sessions throughout the year for her colleagues. 

“This year I got a phone call in August from my principal, two days before going back to school. The entire district had less than 30 high school New Arrival Center program students enrolled,” she said. “They were consolidating the program. All those program teachers had to be reassigned. Only three got to go to the new campus to continue.鈥�

She said many students who qualify for the services refuse to participate, afraid of being identified as new immigrants. 

鈥淭hey鈥檙e declining services to be less easily identified by ICE, which means they鈥檙e missing out on an amazing start to a successful education,鈥� she said. 

Gabrielle Oliveira, an associate professor of education at Harvard, who spent years researching the educational outcomes of immigrant children for her , said every critical program cut, every staff member let go or reassigned represents another lost opportunity for immigrant children as they and their families feel the walls closing in around them. 

School leaders, she notes, are living through a difficult moment. Long established and trusted programs for newcomer students are suddenly politicized, morphing their existence into an unintended statement, an opposition to a president who has frequently 鈥� and educators. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 this slow burn that has been happening,鈥� Oliveira said. 鈥淚t comes in all of these different ways. You start to cut that lifeline. Not only are the programs not available, but the people who are able to tell parents about it, distribute the information, inform them 鈥� that has been the biggest worry.鈥�

From the start, Na’Siah Martin and H’Sanii Blankenship鈥檚 July trip to Washington, D.C., was destined to be a riveting stop on the teenagers’ passage to adulthood. There were the scheduled meetings with lawmakers, the monuments, the reflecting pool near where Martin Luther King Jr. broadcast his dream for racial equality 62 summers ago.

For years, the pair have been involved in the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Austin Area, the revered summer and after-school program that was now making it possible for the two blossoming leaders to meet with Texans in Congress and present their game plan for tackling mental health challenges among student-athletes, a struggle both were deeply familiar with.

But two weeks before their arrival on Capitol Hill, President Donald Trump鈥檚 administration threw one of many curveballs lobbed during the first months of his second term. The U.S. Department of Education on the last day of June that it would pause the disbursement of nearly $7 billion in funds for teacher development, support for students learning English, and before- and after-school programs predominantly serving low-income families, pending a review of how schools had put the money to use. That notice went out a day before states expected to begin receiving the money.

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For Texas, it meant a potential loss of nearly $670 million. For Martin and Blankenship, it potentially meant losing the Boys and Girls Club, a space that has aided their growth as both leaders and individuals. Martin, 18, graduated from Navarro Early College High School in June and has participated in the club since elementary school. Blankenship, a 17-year-old incoming senior at the same school, has participated in the club for about as long as Martin.

The focus of their trip immediately broadened: They now wanted to convince federal lawmakers that cutting the funds would harm Texas kids.

鈥淭hese programs aren’t just for fun,鈥� Blankenship said. 鈥淭hey actually give us resources, help us grow into adults instead of just coming here and just goofing around and stuff like that. These programs, they help us cope with things we need to cope with.鈥�

The education funding freeze was typical of the Trump administration. In recent months, it has also cut billions of dollars in and for families in poverty; in financially supporting universities; billions for foreign aid and public broadcasting stations; thousands of employees working in ; and sought to overhaul the U.S. immigration landscape through actions like attempting to .

Those cuts and changes have often been sweeping and abrupt, disrupting federally funded services and programs serving large swaths of people of color, people with disabilities, low-income families, LGBTQ+ Americans and immigrants. And they have come at the same time the administration has moved to for some of America鈥檚 wealthiest households.

鈥淲e can’t look at just the cuts to education in isolation,鈥� said Wead茅 James, senior director of K-12 education policy at the Center for American Progress. 鈥淚 think what we’re witnessing is really the undoing of a lot of progress, and also actions that are really going to keep a lot of families trapped in cyclical and generational poverty.鈥�

Ongoing changes to the country鈥檚 educational landscape are only one part of Trump鈥檚 larger goals to eliminate what the second-term president has deemed 鈥渨asteful鈥� spending and crack down on anything he views as diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. A large piece of his efforts involve closing the Department of Education and sending 鈥渆ducation back to the states,鈥� though most decisions about education and public school funding already happen at the state and local levels.

鈥淭eachers will be unshackled from burdensome regulations and paperwork, empowering them to get back to teaching basic subjects. Taxpayers will no longer be burdened with tens of billions of dollars of waste on progressive social experiments and obsolete programs,鈥� Trump Secretary of Education Linda McMahon earlier this year. 鈥淜-12 and college students will be relieved of the drudgery caused by administrative burdens鈥攁nd positioned to achieve success in a future career they love.鈥�

The disarray has resulted in profound consequences for Texas, one of the largest and most diverse states in the nation, home to more than 9,000 school campuses and 5.5 million students 鈥� the majority of whom live in low-income households and come from Hispanic and Black families. Public schools serve as a safety net for many of them. They are one of the few places where some children have consistent access to meals, where working-class parents know their kids will be taken care of.

The prospect of federal cuts to school programs triggered a wave of concern across the state. For 44-year-old Clarissa Mendez, it jeopardized the after-school program her two daughters attend while she works as a nurse in Laredo.

鈥淚’m on shaky grounds right now because I don’t know what I’m going to do,鈥� Mendez said last month. 鈥淚 understand there has to be cuts. I understand the government needs to find out how to save money. But why does it have to affect us and our kids?鈥�

For Gay Hibbitts, a 57-year-old trying to become a certified teacher in rural Throckmorton, the worries began months earlier.

Earlier this year, the federal government cut roughly from a program that helps teaching candidates like her pay for their education as they gain hands-on classroom experience. That left participating rural districts with one of two options: cover the costs at a time when schools are financially struggling to make ends meet, or get rid of their preparation programs during a teacher shortage.

In both scenarios, Hibbitts said, children would pay the price.

鈥淭hey’re the main ones that are going to suffer,鈥� she said.

For as long as Martin and Blankenship can remember, they have each helped raise their younger siblings, a responsibility that has been rewarding but stressful. On the one hand, Martin said, her siblings look up to her, and her academic success has motivated them to do well in school. On the other hand, Blankenship said, taking on adult responsibilities at an early age meant missing out on the type of exhilarating childhood experiences many kids desire.

Since joining the Boys and Girls Club, the program has provided them the space to be kids.

They receive tutoring and time to finish homework. They go to live sporting events, watch movies and listen to music 鈥� SZA some days, Lauryn Hill on others. They play sports, cards and board games. They can earn scholarships. They find mentorship.

鈥淲e鈥檙e the future adults, so I feel like if you help us now with programs like this, that make us happy, that give us stress relief, that let us be kids, because we can’t be kids at home, I feel like that’ll equate to happier adults,鈥� Martin said.

Neither Martin nor Blankenship enjoys public speaking. Martin actually fears it. But with the Austin Boys and Girls Club鈥檚 future in jeopardy, they decided to lean into the discomfort and use the face time with lawmakers and their staffers to make a case for the after-school program.

The pair and several other clubmates sat down with the staff of Texas Republican Sens. and . They also met with Rep. , an Austin Democrat. The kids wore blue polo shirts with the words 鈥淎merica Needs Club Kids鈥� etched in white. Martin, rocking a black one-button blazer, led the way.

鈥溾�嬧�婭 gotta let these people know,鈥� she thought.

Erica Pe帽a is responsible for taking care of about 400 kids as she coordinates Hebbronville Elementary鈥檚 summer and after-school programs. Working with an assistant and about 25 paid volunteers, the 37-year-old often stays after hours 鈥� sometimes as late as 7 p.m. 鈥� depending on when parents can leave work to get there.

Pe帽a breaks the after-school schedule into blocks. The first hour is for tutorials and worksheets, the later hours are usually for more fun activities like arts and crafts, kickball and cooking.

But shortly after the federal education funds were paused, the district notified Pe帽a that it could no longer afford to keep her or the program.

鈥淚 cried, to be honest,鈥� Pe帽a said. 鈥淚 was very upset, because I love my job, I love my students, and a lot of it is about them.鈥�

Hebbronville, in far South Texas, is home to about 4,300 mostly Hispanic Texans, one-third of whom live the poverty line. The town has no H-E-B or Walmart. The local health clinic is often busy. The town has a few day care centers, but they can get pricey.

For the average Texas family, child care is financially out of reach. The sits at $10,706 a year 鈥� or $892 each month. That鈥檚 more than one-fourth of the average cost for in-state tuition at a four-year public college, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Access to no-cost options, like the Hebbronville after-school program, has on student attendance, behavior and learning, have found over the years. Such programs also keep families from having to choose between leaving their children unattended or taking time off work to stay home.

鈥淭hat has a direct impact on future economic prospects for that entire family,鈥� said Jenna Courtney, CEO of the Texas Partnership for Out of School Time, a youth advocacy organization.

Mendez, the 44-year-old Hebbronville mother with two daughters, commutes about an hour to and from Laredo every weekday to make it to her job as a nurse. She goes in at 9 a.m. and gets out at 5 p.m. Her husband operates heavy equipment and has an unpredictable work schedule.

The after-school program 鈥済ives me enough time to get to town to pick them up,鈥� she said. But with the district planning to shutter operations, Mendez needed to find care providers who could look after her children until 6-6:30 p.m., when she gets home. She pays about $1,000 a month for that service during the summer when the school program is out of session. It would likely cost her another $800 per month during the academic year.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 a big chunk of our money,鈥� Mendez said.

Without the program, she would need to find a second job.

鈥淲e’ll do what we gotta do,鈥� she added. 鈥淏ut I don’t understand.鈥�

Hibbitts, the 57-year-old from Throckmorton, recently joined a federally funded program that would allow her to support students in her rural hometown between Abilene and Wichita Falls. It places aspiring full-time teachers in classrooms under the supervision of more seasoned teachers and provides financial assistance for their education and living expenses.

In exchange, the district gets to retain educators familiar with the community and eager to teach.

Based on her own experience as a Throckmorton student in the 1970s, Hibbitts knows the monumental role teachers can play in a child鈥檚 life.

鈥淭hey were almost like your second mother,鈥� she said.

Texas has the of any state in the country. Of its roughly 5.5 million students, attend class on a rural campus. Those schools often have to educate their students with less: Less access to the internet and technology, less staffing, and less money to pay and retain teachers.

Texas lawmakers have acknowledged that rural teachers often do not make as much as their urban and suburban counterparts, and that many have left the profession because of a lack of support. Public schools over time have also grown more reliant on hiring unlicensed educators, a trend playing out in the rural parts of Texas.

In response, state officials recently aimed at raising teacher pay, particularly in rural schools, and enhancing teacher preparation programs.

During her first year in the Throckmorton program, Hibbitts learned how to incorporate state learning standards into lesson plans. She learned how to keep students engaged. She helped a child who struggled academically and acted out at the beginning of the school year become a 鈥渕odel student鈥� who thrived in reading by the year鈥檚 end.

Then, one Sunday afternoon in April, her superintendent called her.

The Trump administration had abruptly cut the federal dollars that helped schools fund educator preparation initiatives like the one she was participating in. It would affect about 30 people across 11 rural districts in Texas.

Hibbitts was one of them.

In Hebbronville, Mendez and Pe帽a each had to confront their own harsh realities. Mendez would have to search for child care in a community with few affordable options. Pe帽a, the after-school program coordinator, would have to find a new job.

In Austin, Martin and Blankenship had trouble picturing life without the Boys and Girls Club.

Club leaders began preparing a memo to notify parents about the funding uncertainty and what it could mean for their kids. Nothing had come of the , and efforts seeking the release of the frozen funds. The Texas kids who spoke with congressional lawmakers and staff at the U.S. Capitol hadn鈥檛 heard anything either. When the administration would make a decision about the funds was anyone鈥檚 guess.

Trump responded on a Friday.

After weeks of uncertainty, his administration that it would .

When Blankenship got the news, he sprinted out of his room in excitement and told his mom. The moment was just as surreal for Martin.

鈥淜nowing that it could have been me, my story, or any other club kids鈥� story,鈥� Martin said, 鈥渋t made me happy. But it was like, 鈥楧ang. I was a part 鈥� we were a part of that.鈥欌��

Pe帽a, the Hebbronville Elementary program coordinator, was relieved. The mood in her group chat with people from the district鈥檚 after-school programs was 鈥減retty ecstatic.鈥� They all cried. Getting the funds meant they no longer had to look for new jobs, and parents like Mendez wouldn鈥檛 have to go searching for a place to take care of their kids after school.

Hibbitts, meanwhile, wasn鈥檛 immediately able to bask in the good news, as it did not restore the federal funds for her district鈥檚 teacher preparation program. But in early August, her supervisor notified her that the program was officially back up and running for the 2025-26 school year. The news cleared the way for the 57-year-old to graduate at the end of the year and to start teaching full time by the next.

鈥淭his has been life changing for somebody of my age, to be able to step up and to step into the world of education,鈥� Hibbitts said. 鈥淚’m finishing my dream. And as my kids like to say, 鈥楳om, you’re going to be 58 years old walking the stage.鈥欌��

Still, she recognizes that so much uncertainty around federal funding means there is no guarantee others will get the same chance.

Uncertainty is what Pe帽a also keeps coming back to.

鈥淚t just gets me upset with the administration, because, why? What was the purpose of the freeze? Why did you do that? You’re hurting people, not just adults, but children,鈥� Pe帽a said. 鈥淚t’s like in a divorce, you don’t want to put the children in the middle. If something were to happen between parents, you never put children in the middle. And by doing that, you put children in the middle.鈥�

This article originally appeared in ,聽 a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

With only a week until school starts, local early childhood education nonprofit Porter-Leath needs to fill 250 staff positions and nearly 3,000 student seats as Memphis鈥� new sole Head Start provider.

Porter-Leath announced last Monday that it鈥檚 taking over the five-year contract and the nearly $30 million annual federal grant from Memphis-Shelby County Schools. The district lost the contract after repeated safety violations.

The changeup leaves Porter-Leath with only a week to transition before the school year starts on Aug. 4. And families who previously signed up with MSCS for the upcoming school year need to apply again, said Vice President of Development Robert Hughes. The district didn鈥檛 explain how it plans to communicate that to parents.

鈥淭ime is a huge challenge,鈥� Hughes said.

Over 700 families applied for acceptance last week, he said, and the organization is throughout the month of August.

Hughes also said Porter-Leath is expanding partnerships with other community organizations like First 8 Memphis to open new Head Start sites 鈥渇or space reasons.鈥� The nonprofit currently operates five centers of its own.

During the first enrollment event Friday, Family Services Manager Tracy Jackson said over 100 families showed up to Porter-Leath鈥檚 American Way center for support before 11 a.m.

For the past four years, MSCS has run the free federal pre-K program for low-income families. But funding from the federal Administration for Children and Families went up for grabs this spring because , according to The Daily Memphian. The district received including teachers who 鈥渉it, pulled and grabbed children by the neck.鈥�

In an email to Chalkbeat, MSCS confirmed that it will not receive any Head Start funding this school year.

But the district will still provide 鈥渉igh-quality early learning opportunities鈥� to 3,340 students, the email said, primarily four-year-olds, through funding from the .

MSCS did not say whether it would need to lay off any staff. In an earlier press release, district officials said the transition will affect 23 childcare providers.

鈥淲hile the loss of Head Start funding has required adjustments to our staffing model, we are working diligently to retain as many team members as possible through reassignment and redeployment into roles supported by [the] Early Childhood Department,鈥� the recent email said.

Last year, Porter-Leath served around 1,500 children in its Early Head Start program for children up to 3 years old and other pre-K models. And until , the district paid the nonprofit around two-thirds of its grant award to serve as a partner in offering Head Start services.

Porter-Leath was one of 13 providers nationwide to be in 2023. Hughes credits most of the organization鈥檚 success to its early education staff, and the focus on professional development.

鈥溾�嬧�媁e鈥檙e not just like, 鈥楬ey, you鈥檙e hired. Go for it,鈥欌�� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not asking somebody to rely on what they learned in school 25 years ago with no additional support. And that pays off in the classroom.鈥�

Hughes said Porter-Leath also puts additional adults in its classrooms and centers through outside partnerships with AmeriCorps, including its 鈥渇oster grandparents鈥� program.

鈥淗aving extra adults in the classroom and in the centers makes a huge difference obviously, for our teachers, knowing that there鈥檚 a third set of eyes,鈥� he said.

Starting Friday, Porter-Leath will begin hosting job fairs specifically for former MSCS Head Start employees, which will run every Wednesday and Friday through August.

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools. Sign up for their newsletters at .

Child care worries have been made worse this summer by federal cuts and depleting pandemic funds, and they aren鈥檛 expected to ease by the first day of school. While their kids might have gotten a rest, parents reported longer commutes and newfound stress.

A dozen parents from across the state told Mississippi Today about summer child care plans for their toddlers and elementary school-aged children. They shared a mix of anxiety about finding care and frustration with existing options.

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Parents have had more reasons to be anxious about those options this summer than in previous ones. A loss of federally funded summer programming for youth, added fees for day care tuition and the loss of vouchers to subsidize tuition costs have changed the landscape of child care.

For Shequite Johnson, a professor at Mississippi Valley State University, it has meant driving 45 minutes in the opposite direction of her job for day care.

鈥淚鈥檝e had to leave my 13-year-old with my 4-year-old,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd you鈥檙e put in a situation where you have to make these decisions. Some are even leaving their babies at home by themselves for five hours and checking on them during lunch hour.鈥�

She had to pull her 4-year-old boy from a day care in her hometown because of excessive fees. She was charged a $20 late fee at pickup, a $100 registration fee for each of her two boys, and a $150 supplies fee that was announced in June on top of the $135 weekly fee.

The Mississippi Department of Human Services recently announced a cutback on vouchers that subsidize child care costs. Without Johnson’s child care voucher, her nearby options were limited to a city-run program in an unsafe neighborhood and three programs in aging facilities.

Delta Health Alliance runs free and reduced summer programming for elementary-aged children. But Johnson makes more than the income cut-off.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a crisis right now in Mississippi,鈥� said Carol Burnett, executive director of Mississippi Low-Income Child Care Initiative. 鈥淭he lack of affordable child care prevents employers from keeping their workforce. And yet the state of Mississippi wants people to go back to work.鈥�

鈥淧arents are having to make choices. And none of them are good,鈥� she added.

The聽Child Care Initiative operates a program that connects single moms with higher-paying jobs and covers the costs of child care during the transition. The organization is also advocating for the Mississippi Department of Human Services to spend some of the $156 million in unspent Temporary Assistance for Needy Families on Mississippi鈥檚 Child Care Payment Program.

The Child Care Development Fund, which nationally supports these voucher state programs, relied on pandemic-era funding that ran out in September. The Department of Human Services to continue serving the same number of families 鈥� but .

In April, the department put a hold on renewals for child care vouchers except for deployed military parents, parents who are TANF recipients, foster children guardians, teen parents, parents of special needs children and homeless parents. As a result, .

The department will keep the hold until the number of enrollees drops to 27,000 or its budget goes in monthly costs. As of Friday, it had no further update but said it will have an announcement in the next couple of weeks.

Using TANF funds unspent from past years regardless of whether they were allocated for child care assistance is prohibited, . However, the TANF state office can use the leftover funds to form a direct payment program. and enacted this policy.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services regional manager Eric Blanchette with Mississippi Department of Human Services Early Childhood Director Chad Allgood, according to an email obtained as part of a records request filed by Mississippi Today into communication regarding TANF funds. As of Friday, there were no plans to enact a similar policy in Mississippi.

A second rent

Monica Ford pays nearly $1,600 in monthly child care costs for three kids. She works as a Shipt delivery driver in addition to her day job as a Magnolia Guaranty Life Insurance Co. auditor. She, her husband and their children recently had to move in with his parents.

鈥淚t鈥檚 more than I鈥檝e paid in rent,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 why I live with my family now.鈥�

She uses a Jackson day care that charges $10 per minute for late pickup. The fees must be paid by the next morning.

Nearly all of the single mothers interviewed said they take on extra work to cover the rising costs of child care in their area. It鈥檚 extra work that sees them spending less time with their children.

Ashley Wilson鈥檚 child care voucher wasn鈥檛 renewed in the spring. She works 55 hours a week at a bingo hall and at Sonic Drive-In.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 get help. That鈥檚 what I don鈥檛 understand,鈥� said Wilson, an Indianola parent.

Her preferred day care option in Indianola charged $185 per week and $20 late fees, which Wilson could not afford. Her sister was able to afford monthly costs because of an arrangement with an Angel 鈥� a benefactor who helps local families with tuition at day care providers.

Wilson tried other day cares in town. Several were in dangerous neighborhoods with staff that left milk bottles to spoil. Her toddler came home wet some afternoons and with cuts another. She gets help from family when she can.

Whitney Harper lost her child care voucher in April. She is lucky when a relative is willing to watch her 2-year old. Lately, she has considered hiring a sitter off , a website that connects parents with local babysitters. In Jackson, where she lives, the hourly rate is .

Most of the day cares in the Jackson metro area charge between $150 and $250 per week, which is more than she can afford as a sales associate at Home Depot.

鈥淚t has been harder this year. They won鈥檛 work around my schedule, but I need the job,鈥� she said of her employer.

鈥楾his is the worst I have seen it鈥�

Day care centers are left on the brink when families lose child care vouchers. Making up the lost revenue has meant higher tuition and fees for some centers and reaching out to private donors for others.

鈥淭hese are small businesses,鈥� Burnette said. 鈥淭he big story in child care is how much it costs to run it. It requires adequate public investment.鈥�

This week, Level Up Learning Center owner and CEO Kaysie Burton visited Greenville鈥檚 Walmart, seeking to persuade the manager to sponsor his employees鈥� child care tuition. She submitted two grant applications and is working on at least three others. Burton鈥檚 business survived flooding and relocation. But the latest voucher cutback could shut her banner-adorned doors to the community

At Level Up Learning Center, 75% of parents rely on child care vouchers. In the last three months, 20 Learning Center parents have lost their child care vouchers yet most have stayed. Burton has a policy of not turning parents away if they are willing to contribute a portion of the weekly rate. She has not increased her tuition or instituted punishing fees.

But making up the lost revenue can be a challenge. Since the cutback, she has let seven teachers go, or roughly a third of her staff.

鈥淲e鈥檙e down to skin and bones right now,鈥� Burton said. 鈥淚 am willing to take anybody that is willing to come partner with us and help us help parents so that their kids can keep coming in.”

When Burton started her business during the COVID-19 pandemic, she saw the need in the Mississippi Delta for affordable, quality child care. She remains committed to helping prepare a future generation of Greenville leadership.

鈥淲e鈥檙e in the thick of it with our parents,” Burton said. “And we all just need help and we need prayer.”

SunShine Daycare owner Barbara Thompson has greeted each parent at the door since she started babysitting neighbors鈥� kids in her living room. The former banker has long had a passion for raising neighborhood children regardless of their parents鈥� status or income. She raised her seven siblings when her mother died when Thompson was 12.

But for the first time in 30 years of running a business in Greenville, Thompson is losing families by the dozen as well as longtime staff. She has leaned heavily on prayer and has reached out to state representatives for help. She fears more departures and the downsizing of her business.

In the last two months, 12 parents pulled their kids from SunShine. She will have to let three teachers go as a result.

鈥淲e won鈥檛 have any children if this continues,鈥� Thompson said.

She regularly informs parents of the child care voucher waitlist and of the process for renewals. Besides caring for children, Thompson advises many young parents in her community. She noticed that state agencies communicate primarily through email, which a lot of her parents don鈥檛 check regularly.

Children who leave her stoop festooned with cartoon characters can face hours alone without parental supervision. Some children will sit and watch television with their grandparents. For Thompson, child care is about raising children to be “productive citizens.鈥� The youngest years are some of the most important, she stressed.

鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 take it from us,鈥� Thompson said. 鈥淭hey took from the children. That鈥檚 the world鈥檚 future.鈥�

Waitlisted

Vennesha Price is waitlisted at nearly every day care in Cleveland, where she lives. She鈥檚 been on some of the lists for eight months.

鈥淚f you haven鈥檛 been a resident for five years and you haven鈥檛 navigated the waiting list for five years, it鈥檚 harder to find a spot,鈥� she said.

She found it difficult to both have a productive work day and watch her elementary-aged children. Eventually, she found a day care that was 40 minutes away. She wakes up an hour earlier to make the commute in time before work.

鈥淚鈥檓 a single mother so it鈥檚 very difficult,鈥� Price said. 鈥淎fter my grandmother went on to the Lord, it became a struggle trying to get to the day care in time.鈥�

She started factoring late fees into her monthly budget. She鈥檚 also including the gas money needed for the extra legs of her commute. Her child care costs doubled for June and July.

鈥淚t鈥檚 almost like private school tuition now,鈥� she said.

This first appeared on and is republished here under a .

The U.S. Department of Education鈥檚 decision this week to hold back $6.8 billion in federal K-12 funds next year has triggered alarm among state education officials, school leaders and advocacy groups nationwide over how the lack of funds will affect their after-school, enrichment and language-learning services.

The Trump administration鈥檚 decision to freeze the funding has put states in 鈥渢riage mode鈥� as they scramble to decide what programs may be cut without that funding, said Mary Kusler, senior director for the Center for Advocacy at the National Education Association. The money was approved by Congress to support education for English language learners, migrants, low-income children and adults learning to read, among others.

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As of July 1, school systems are unable to draw down funding, jeopardizing summer programs, hiring and early-year planning for the 2025鈥�26 school year.

The funding freeze affects several core programs: Title II-A (educator training and recruitment), Title III-A (English learner support), Title IV-A (student enrichment and after-school), as well as migrant education and adult education and literacy grants. Trump has proposed eliminating all those programs in his proposed budget for next fiscal year, but that proposal hasn鈥檛 gone through Congress.

State superintendents sent out missives to school districts early this week and now are scrambling to make choices.

鈥淭his is not about political philosophy, this is about reliability and consistency,鈥� Alabama state Superintendent Eric Mackey said to this week. 鈥淣one of us were worrying about this.鈥�

The administration says it is reviewing the programs.

鈥淭he Department remains committed to ensuring taxpayer resources are spent in accordance with the President鈥檚 priorities and the Department鈥檚 statutory responsibilities,鈥� the U.S. Department of Education wrote to states in its announcement Monday.

Historically, the department releases allocations by July 1 to ensure schools can budget and plan effectively for the coming school year. Withholding the money could result in canceled programs, hiring freezes and the loss of essential support for English learners, migrant children and other high-need populations, education and state officials told Stateline.

鈥淎merica鈥檚 public school leaders run district budgets that are dependent on a complex partnership between federal, state, and local funding,鈥� said David R. Schuler, executive director of the School Superintendents Association in a statement. 鈥淔or decades, school districts have relied on timely confirmation of their federal allocations ahead of the July 1 start of the fiscal year 鈥� ensuring stability, allowing for responsible planning, and supporting uninterrupted educational services for students.鈥�

The states facing the largest withheld amounts include California ($810.7 million), Texas ($660.9 million), and New York ($411.7 million), according to data from the and, an education think tank.

For 17 states and territories, the freeze affects over 15% of their total federal K-12 allocations, according to the Learning Policy Institute. For smaller jurisdictions such as the District of Columbia and Vermont, the disruption hits even harder: More than 20% of their federal K-12 budgets remain inaccessible.

Colorado Education Commissioner Susan C贸rdova school districts to begin contingency planning in case funds are not released before the federal fiscal year ends on Sept. 30. California State Superintendent Tony Thurmond hinted at possible legal action, which has become a trend as states fight the second Trump administration鈥檚 funding revocations or delays.

鈥淐alifornia will continue to pursue all available legal remedies to the Trump Administration鈥檚 unlawful withholding of federal funds appropriated by Congress,鈥� Thurmond said in a statement.

The , calling the administration鈥檚 delay an illegal 鈥渋mpoundment鈥� 鈥� a violation of the federal Impoundment Control Act, which bars the executive branch from withholding appropriated funds without congressional approval.

Education advocates warn the recent decision by the Trump administration to withhold funding reflects a broader pattern of federal disengagement from public education.

Community nonprofits said the withholding could devastate their programming too. The Boys and Girls Clubs of America could have to close more than 900 centers 鈥� bringing the loss of 5,900 jobs and affecting more than 220,000 children, President and CEO Jim Clark in a statement.

The 1974 Impoundment Control Act lets the president approved by Congress. Lawmakers have 45 days to approve the request; if they don鈥檛, it鈥檚 denied. Meanwhile, agencies can be directed not to spend the funds during that time.

A White House statement with States Newsroom this week said 鈥渋nitial findings have shown that many of these grant programs have been grossly misused to subsidize a radical leftwing agenda.鈥�

鈥淜ids, educators, and working families are the ones losing,鈥� said Kusler, of the NEA. 鈥淲e need governors and communities to step up 鈥� now.鈥�

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org.

Michigan鈥檚 top education leader is urging the Trump administration to release nearly $7 billion in funding the federal government is withholding from schools nationwide.

In Michigan, that includes nearly $160 million.

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The funding, approved by Congress earlier this year as part of a continuing budget resolution signed by President Donald Trump in March, was supposed to be distributed Tuesday. But the Trump administration said Monday it would not release the funds, .

鈥淭hese federal dollars support some of our most economically disadvantaged and vulnerable students,鈥� Michigan State Superintendent Michael Rice said in a statement Wednesday. 鈥淭he U.S. Department of Education should provide the approved funding immediately.鈥�

The money funds programs that support migrant education ($5.4 million), services for English learners ($12.8 million), staff professional development ($63.7 million), before- and after-school programs ($36.7 million), and academic enrichment ($38.3 million), Rice said.

Rice said that based on past practice, 鈥渓ocal school districts were rightly counting on this approved funding by July 1.鈥�

He said the Michigan Department of Education, which he oversees, 鈥渋s working with colleagues across the country and with legal counsel to reflect upon the adverse impact to students, staff, and schools of this withholding.鈥�

It was unclear Wednesday afternoon if the department is considering legal action.

A spokesperson for the White House Office of Management and Budget, said Wednesday that the move to withhold the funding was part of an ongoing programmatic review of education funding, and that no decisions had been made yet.

Initial findings, the spokesperson said, 鈥渉ave shown that many of these grant programs have been grossly misused to subsidize a radical leftwing agenda.鈥�

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.聽Sign up for their newsletters at .

The U.S. Department of Education said it is moving to strip federal K-12 education funding from Maine due to what it called the state鈥檚 refusal to comply with Title IX, the law that bans sex discrimination in education.

The Friday announcement followed a department investigation into the state鈥檚 policies governing transgender athletes. Those investigations determined that the state was in violation of Title IX, which the state has denied.

鈥淭he Department has given Maine every opportunity to come into compliance with Title IX, but the state鈥檚 leaders have stubbornly refused to do so, choosing instead to prioritize an extremist ideological agenda over their students鈥� safety, privacy, and dignity,鈥� .

The move represents an unprecedented attempt by the federal government to speedily take away K-12 funding that has been appropriated by Congress and is firmly grounded in federal law. President Donald Trump has made trans athletes a major political issue and has used the federal government to root out gender-affirming policies in the early days of his second term.

The federal Education Department said it is starting an administrative proceeding to take away Maine鈥檚 K-12 funding, including formula grants 鈥� which include funding streams like Title I for high-poverty schools and IDEA grants for students with disabilities 鈥� as well as discretionary grants. on elementary and secondary education in recent years, the Maine Monitor reported. In addition, the federal department said it has referred the results of its Title IX investigation to the U.S. Department of Justice for 鈥渇urther enforcement action.鈥�

The Department of Health and Human Services had already referred its investigation that found Maine in violation of Title IX to the Justice Department.

Earlier on Friday, the Maine state attorney general鈥檚 office drafted by the Trump administration in the wake of the investigation. That proposed agreement , including that Maine must strip any trans girl who鈥檚 ever placed in a Maine girls sports competition of her title and give it to the athlete behind her, along with an apology letter.

The federal Education Department did not immediately respond to several questions from Chalkbeat.

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools. Sign up for their newsletters at .

Jennie Demizio, a special education teacher at Park Elementary School in Newark, stood in a crowd full of dozens of educators and union members and listened to speakers talk about the Trump administration鈥檚 threats to cut funding for education.

One by one, speakers listed the potential impacts of federal cuts on programs at New Jersey鈥檚 universities and colleges, health care, and research. Protesters yelled 鈥渟hame鈥� and 鈥渂oo鈥� after speakers detailed the effects of funding cuts on schools.

After the rally on Tuesday, Demizio held back tears and her voice cracked as she told Chalkbeat Newark how her students with disabilities rely on federal funding to get to school and for services such as speech therapy and classroom aides.

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鈥淗alf of my students arrive in ambulances. They鈥檙e on oxygen, they have seizure disorders, and just their transportation alone to get to school costs thousands of dollars a year,鈥� said Demizio as her voice cracked while holding back tears. 鈥淚鈥檓 just so worried we鈥檙e going to lose this funding.鈥�

Demizio鈥檚 fears echo those of many educators in Newark and across the state who feel that students will lose essential resources because of the administration鈥檚 threats to education. The protesters hope school districts, higher education institutions, and local leaders will band together to fight looming cuts and protect students and staff.

The protest in Newark was part of the 鈥溾�� demonstration, a national day of action with protests in over 30 cities across the country. About 50 city educators and labor unions gathered in front of a bust of John F. Kennedy at Military Park on the windy Tuesday afternoon, where they held signs that read 鈥渉ands off my students鈥� and chanted 鈥渟tand up, fight back.鈥�

The protest in Newark centered on threats to health care, immigrants, research, and the Trump administration鈥檚 threat to withhold federal funding from school districts and universities that don鈥檛 eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion programs deemed unlawful by the administration.

Last week, federal officials gave the elimination of DEI efforts in schools or risk losing federal funding. That directive threatens for New Jersey schools, including $77 million for Newark Public Schools, the state鈥檚 largest district. That funding makes up around 5% of the district鈥檚 for the upcoming school year.

鈥淭here鈥檚 no way that municipalities can totally foot that bill,鈥� said Demizio.鈥淚鈥檓 in a classroom where there are nurses, aides, and, you know, I think I feel like special education teachers, especially, are vulnerable at this moment.鈥�

Last week鈥檚 attack on DEI programs in schools comes days after federal education officials also announced they would revoke deadline extensions to spend federal COVID aid that had been approved by the Biden administration.

As a result, 20 school districts across New Jersey could lose an additional $85 million in federal funding for infrastructure projects already in progress. That includes Newark Public Schools, which was to finish installing artificial intelligence cameras last fall. Paul Brubaker, the district鈥檚 director of communications, did not respond to questions about the status of the district鈥檚 AI cameras project or budget plans if federal funds are cut.

For Shelby Wardlaw, a professor and vice president of non-tenure track faculty at Rutgers University, the attacks feel personal. International students are worried about getting their visas revoked, and immigrant students fear they might be targeted due to their legal status, Wardlaw said.

In recent days, roughly a dozen Rutgers students 鈥渋n good academic standing鈥� learned their visas were revoked 鈥渨ithout explanation,鈥� according to from Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway. Across the country, international students and recent graduates have had their legal status changed by the federal government.

Additionally, some Rutgers faculty members are concerned about cuts to DEI initiatives and the impact that could have on teaching and learning.

Melissa Rodgers, a professor at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, spoke to the crowd on Tuesday about the devastating effects funding cuts to the National Institutes of Health and anti-DEI initiatives will have on medical and scientific research. Rodgers, a biomedical professor, has been investigating the impacts of sex on kidney disease, research that鈥檚 now at risk under proposed cuts, Rodgers said.

Wardlaw and her colleagues want Rutgers and other universities in the Big Ten Academic Alliance Conference to band together to share legal resources and funds to combat federal funding threats to higher education. Last month, the Rutgers University Senate passed a resolution calling on those universities to form a 鈥淢utual Defense Compact鈥� to protect and defend 鈥渁cademic freedom, institutional integrity and the research enterprise,鈥� according to , Rutgers student-run newspaper.

鈥淯niversities are bastions of knowledge and resistance that would oppose an authoritarian overreach, and they鈥檙e going to come after us first,鈥� Wardlaw told Chalkbeat on Tuesday. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e trying to break us as a potential site of resistance.鈥�

Protesters at the Newark rally also heard from union leaders, civil rights activist Larry Hamm, and gubernatorial candidates Sean Spiller and Mayor Ras Baraka, who urged educators, laborers, and immigrant rights activists to band together to fight federal threats.

鈥淲e must resist,鈥� all three speakers urged the crowd on Tuesday.

鈥淭he same people that were trying to stop [workers] from having fair working conditions and a rise in their wages were the same people who were opposed to ending Jim Crow Laws, opposed to civil rights, and opposed to democracy and justice,鈥� Baraka told protesters.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, also spoke on Tuesday and called the Trump administration鈥檚 move to cancel funding for and $400 million in grants to an assault on education. The AFT is a party to eight lawsuits against the Trump administration鈥檚 attacks on education, access to records, and public health, according to the group.

鈥淲e have young people engage in critical thinking and problem solving so they can discern fact from fiction, so they can stand up for themselves, so they know how to think,鈥� Weingarten said. 鈥淭hat is what we do and what this administration is so fearful about.鈥�

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools. Sign up for their newsletters at .

Incoming president Donald Trump has vowed to .

For students who are eyeing college, his presidency represents a potentially brutal Sophie鈥檚 Choice if they have undocumented parents: Risk exposing them to a possible immigration dragnet by completing the federal Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, or leave thousands of dollars in cash for school on the table. 

While researchers and advocates have yet to hear anything concrete from Trump representatives about using financial aid data to target undocumented residents, they know families are afraid.

鈥淔ront line staff that work directly with students are reporting that students and parents are asking them if the FAFSA is safe鈥� given Trump鈥檚 campaign promises of mass deportation, said Marcos Montes, policy director for Southern California College Attainment Network, a coalition of nonprofits that help students apply for college admission and financial aid.

The National College Attainment Network said those fears are justified. It 鈥渃annot assure mixed-status students and families that data submitted to the US Department of Education, as part of the FAFSA process, will continue to be protected,鈥� a read late last month.

That fear is exacerbated by  that the only way to deport undocumented parents whose children are citizens is to have the whole family leave. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to be breaking up families,鈥� Trump said. 鈥淪o the only way you don鈥檛 break up the family is you keep them together and you have to send them all back.鈥� How Trump can force out citizens, including those with parents not born in the U.S., is unclear; experts say .

An estimated 3.3 million Californians , including 1 in 5 children under 18, according to data from Equity Research Institute, a USC research group.

A California workaround

Experts say California students eligible for financial aid can minimize the possible harm to their undocumented parents. Unlike the FAFSA, the state aid application is not shared with federal agencies. That policy is  in place under California鈥檚 so-called 鈥渟anctuary鈥� laws  the use of state resources to . Several legal experts told CalMatters the Trump administration would have to clear a high legal bar to gain access to those state records and that court cases have put restrictions on how wide a net immigration enforcement agencies can cast in their search for data. 

Because the deadline for state financial aid is in March 鈥� though there are plans to move it to April 鈥� and the federal deadline , Californians attending college here should complete the state application first, said Montes. Then they should wait to see if the Trump administration will break precedent and begin using the federal financial aid data for immigration enforcement purposes.

That strategy is also endorsed by Madeleine Villanueva, the interim higher education director at Immigrants Rising, a California-based advocacy and research group focused on undocumented residents. She stressed that there鈥檚 a bevy of analysts and immigrant rights advocates who鈥檒l be watching for updates from the Trump administration.

鈥淯nfortunately, we can鈥檛 say what鈥檚 going to happen federally,鈥� she said. But the California state aid application, known as the California Dream Act Application, is an 鈥渆xtra layer of safety when it comes to applying for financial aid.鈥�

The California Student Aid Commission, an agency with the sole goal of getting students more money, suggests students may need to forgo federal aid given the risks to their families. The agency, which runs the state鈥檚 financial aid programs,  that completing just the state aid application is a 鈥渧iable option鈥� for students in mixed-status homes who have 鈥渇ears of adverse action by federal immigration enforcement.鈥�

However, taking a wait-and-see approach with federal aid means California campuses won鈥檛 have a full picture of how much aid a student is likely to get when they send out financial aid estimates to admitted students in the spring. The University of California鈥檚 central office worries that students may not complete the FAFSA and lose out on aid. Both UC and the California State University indicated to CalMatters they鈥檒l process either form students submit and will work with students who file their federal applications later.

About , which waives tuition at the public universities and partially at private colleges. That grant plus the state鈥檚  can add up to more than $17,000 in aid in one year. The state aid application ensures students fearful of the federal application can still receive the state support for which they鈥檙e eligible.

The University of California鈥檚 undergraduate student government is also on edge about FAFSA. The lack of a firm firewall 鈥渃ould put certain students at risk,鈥� said Saanvi Arora, external vice president for UC Berkeley鈥檚 student government and a board member for the systemwide student government.

Understanding the FAFSA risk

Students who are  are eligible for up to $7,400 in Pell grants and access to federal loans that come with repayment protections that are often stronger than what the private sector offers. To receive this aid, students who live with their parents need them to fill out portions of the federal aid application. More recently,  have been asked to indicate they lack one and then must answer a set of questions about their identity.

The U.S. Department of Education and the Department of Homeland Security, which also oversees the country鈥檚 immigration enforcement, have a regularly renewed . Because students need to be citizens or permanent residents to get financial aid, a signed agreement between the two departments states that students鈥� information they submit for FAFSA will be matched against an . It鈥檚 one that hundreds of state, local and federal agencies use to determine whether an individual is eligible for federal benefits. Neither SAVE nor the agency that operates it, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, are used for immigration enforcement purposes. 

Conceptually, it鈥檚 not hard to use that federal financial aid data for enforcement purposes, according to experts who spoke with CalMatters. However, doing so would be a major break from current protocol. 

Under the Biden administration, the U.S. Department of Education 鈥渉as not provided and will not provide information gathered through FAFSA to any federal immigration-related agency for law enforcement activities,鈥� wrote in an email James Kvaal, who holds the number two spot at the U.S. Department of Education and is the top higher education officer in the federal government. However, he wrote, 鈥渟tudents and their families should make the decisions that are right for them.鈥�

That does not 鈥渟ound like a robust encouragement to go ahead and fill out the FAFSA,鈥� said Bob Shireman, who was a senior higher education official in the education department during the Obama administration.

The agreement between the departments 鈥渋s not much of a firewall, it is more like a picket fence,鈥� Shireman said in an interview. The agreement can be changed in a matter of months, he said, 鈥渟o if the next administration wants to use education department records to identify people who may have an immigration status that could subject them to deportation, I don鈥檛 see anything preventing that from happening.鈥�

Federal laws limit the data sharing that can occur between the U.S. Department of Education and law enforcement agencies, said Shelveen Ratnam, a spokesperson for the California Student Aid Commission. Ratnam said that current law 鈥渟trictly prohibits鈥� agencies in possession of personally identifiable information, like parental data, from releasing that information, with few exceptions. Some other laws and policies also apply and the gist is that an agency can only use the personal information of others in ways that support the mission of that federal agency.

But if the U.S. Department of Education gets subpoenaed for information, the department鈥檚 鈥渞esponses and likelihood of challenging the demand for information are unknown,鈥� according to Ratnam.

Even analysts who say using parental FAFSA information is an inefficient way to find possible undocumented parents urge caution. They say it鈥檚 not out of the question that a Trump administration could try to make use of that data for immigration enforcement purposes.

While 鈥渋t鈥檚 sort of methodologically flawed as a way to identify individuals,鈥� said Corinne Kentor, an , 鈥渢hat doesn鈥檛 mean that it won鈥檛 be attempted. But I think it is probably harder and more work than other avenues.鈥�

California Dream Act Application is safer

The California Dream Act Application has more protections than the federal application. Though originally designed to allow undocumented students who are California residents to apply for state college benefits, the application in 2024 was modified to permit any student who ran into problems with the federal application to at least apply for state grants. The change stemmed from colossal data issues with the federal application this year that  from completing the FAFSA.

According to a , 鈥渢he government can鈥檛 enforce a subpoena that is just 鈥榝ishing鈥� for data about undocumented people,鈥� said Ahilan Arulanantham, a scholar on immigration law at UCLA. That鈥檚 in contrast to 鈥渢rying to gather information on a particular individual that the government has reason to suspect is here in violation of the immigration laws.鈥�

Arulanantham also said that a federal agency asking California鈥檚 financial aid agency to search databases for undocumented students could run afoul of the 10th Amendment.

Finally, the state鈥檚 financial aid agency could challenge a judicial order or subpoena that seeks student records on the grounds that it鈥檚 not specific enough and violates the Fourth Amendment鈥檚 protections against unreasonable search and seizure, Ratnam said. 

Now what does all this mean for students with undocumented parents who already submitted FAFSA information last year? Their information is already in government systems. Should they continue to file their FAFSA? Experts had few answers. They said that鈥檚 a decision that only families can decide together given the varying protections available.

Arora, the UC student government member, is sympathetic to those households. It鈥檚 鈥渁bsolutely a tough question,鈥� she said. That鈥檚 one reason she wants UC officials to bolster existing immigration legal aid services, such as bringing in more lawyers. 

It鈥檚 one answer she has to her own question: 鈥淗ow do we mitigate retribution that鈥檚 likely to happen against those students?鈥�

This was originally published on .

Students seeking state financial aid have just two weeks remaining to beat a California deadline, even as thousands  of completing the federal application necessary to get that state aid 鈥� a problem that particularly affects students who are citizens but whose parents are not. 

Now a prominent state lawmaker, Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes, a Democrat from Corona and chair of the California Latino Legislative Caucus, is fast-tracking a bill to give affected California students additional time to complete the federal application and access more than $3 billion in state aid. If passed,  would move the current deadline from  and would go into effect immediately.

Its  is scheduled for Monday at 3 p.m. Lawmakers realistically must approve the measure before next Thursday, when the Legislature goes on break and reconvenes April 1 鈥� one day before the current state financial aid deadline.  

Cervantes鈥� bill follows a technology crisis at the federal level that has prevented U.S. citizens from completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, because their parents don鈥檛 have a Social Security number. It鈥檚 a new problem that only emerged this year and has generated a high degree of worry among the higher education community in California and nationally.

The tech glitch is basically this: The federal online application wouldn鈥檛 allow those parents to enter their financial information. Without those details, a student can鈥檛 finalize their federal aid application 鈥� and therefore cannot apply for state financial aid.

鈥淭he Legislature can highlight, double down on how unacceptable it is that certain U.S. citizens cannot submit a FAFSA,鈥� said Gina Browne, a senior official with the California Community Colleges system, , 鈥渁nd I鈥檓 personally offended by it.鈥�

The scale of the problem is hard to gauge. More than 100,000 California students last year submitted a federal aid application without their parents鈥� Social Security numbers. It鈥檚 not clear how many of those had parents who lacked a number or whether they chose to not share one with the government. Nationally, about 2% of applicants faced this issue in 2024, U.S. Department of Education officials said.

Remaining federal issues

The department said  this week  blocking some students from finishing their applications. Those include instances in which a parent鈥檚 鈥� or spouse鈥檚 鈥� name doesn鈥檛 totally match the forms both the parent and student must complete. 

The state Senate is also planning to push for that debuted Thursday. California鈥檚 public colleges and universities urged a  to support an extension of the state financial aid deadline. Key advisors for the Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom backed the idea then.

鈥淲e think that extending the state financial aid deadline is worth considering because it allows the U.S. Department of Education more time to resolve these technical difficulties,鈥� said Lisa Qing, an official with the Legislative Analyst鈥檚 Office.

Chris Ferguson, of the California Department of Finance, said, 鈥渢he administration is likely in a position to support such an extension.鈥�

But a delay this year may not address other issues with the federal application that could emerge in 2025, said Jake Brymner, a senior official with the California Student Aid Commission.

Parents without Social Security numbers now have to confirm their identity to complete FAFSA, such as by . 鈥淒epending on the national political environment,鈥� students 鈥渕ay have some additional concern about sharing family members鈥� information with a federal agency as they try to seek financial aid,鈥� Brymner said.

Brymner鈥檚 implication is that families may worry if Donald Trump wins the presidential election this year. The Republican nominee reportedly plans a  of undocumented immigrants, , if he returns to the White House.

The commission  using another application for state financial aid 鈥� currently reserved for undocumented students 鈥� to bypass the federal technical glitches this year affecting U.S. citizens. The state doesn鈥檛 share information on that application with the federal government.

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The results come from a that polled 1,506 parents of K-12 public school students conducted by the National Parents Union between Feb. 6-8.

For the past four years, the organization has surveyed parents leading up to the State of the Union address, 鈥渂ecause we want parents to be able to give their own State of the Union,鈥� said founding president and 74 contributor Keri Rodrigues. All questions are written by parents who serve on the group鈥檚 Family Advisory Council, composed of delegates across the country that represent different intersections of American families.

While some results were unsurprising 鈥� like parents welcoming more financial support 鈥� they are still important, according to Rodrigues, because they serve as an essential message to policymakers about what parents care about. 鈥淲e have these little, 鈥榃e told you so moments.鈥� I think this is yet another one.鈥�

Rodrigues said that voters are repeatedly and inaccurately told that parents are angriest about hot-button, culture war issues.

鈥淲e have consistently said to people, 鈥楶lease, listen. Look at the data …鈥� It is clear,鈥� she said.
鈥淧arents are struggling with economic issues 鈥� Inflation, the cost of living, people living on the edge. Parents and families are scared and they鈥檙e hurting.鈥� 

鈥淲e are obviously focused on education justice but economic justice for families is equally important to us,鈥� Rodrigues added later, 鈥渂ecause we really deal with the intersectional issues 鈥� we just don鈥檛 think you can separate those things.鈥�

Overall, surveyed parents ranked K-12 education as the third most important issue for the president and Congress to address, behind the economy and immigration.

鈥淚n education, we think we鈥檙e the center of the universe, and we鈥檙e not,鈥� Rodrigues said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e a piece of the puzzle. It鈥檚 relevant, it鈥檚 in the mix, it鈥檚 definitely a concern. But we have to understand the intersectionality of the larger political context and where we fall in it and how it competes with other issues for the average voter and for the average American family.鈥�

According to another released by the organization in November 2023, voters trust Democrats slightly more on education and Republicans by a small margin on the economy. The majority of parents reported wanting policymakers to work together to find bipartisan education policy solutions, even if it means compromising with people they disagree with.

鈥淚t just makes me crazy that our elected officials don鈥檛 listen,鈥� Rodrigues said. 鈥淭here are really big, important things that American families want us to do,鈥� including the child tax credit, which during last week鈥檚 State of the Union, and stronger, evidence-based reading and literacy programs. 

鈥淲e can do big things,鈥� she continued. 鈥淲e can have unity 鈥� The majority of us can agree on some big, important things.鈥�

Of parents surveyed in February, 87% were in favor of expanding the child tax credit and 85% were in favor of expanding subsidies to reduce health insurance costs. The vast majority were also in favor of providing funding directly to families of K-12 public school students to help them pay for supplemental resources such as tutoring. 

The survey did not include questions about more controversial vouchers, which let parents use taxpayer money to send their kids to private schools. The National Parents Union is known for both its criticism of traditional public schools, including teachers unions, that is sometimes seen as aligning with pro-school choice education reform forces and for elevating the voices of parents, especially lower-income parents of color.

Over 80% of surveyed families want the federal government to support all K-12 public schools via counseling and mental health services, free school lunch, free, high-quality preschool programs and increased funding for schools in low-income communities.

Among the 484 parents who responded to demographic questions, 27% consider themselves to be conservative, 24% liberal and 43% moderate. They were also socioeconomically and geographically diverse. About half of respondents were white, 15% Black, 24% Hispanic or Latino and 3% Asian. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.

While the vast majority of school districts across the country have received additional federal funding to address COVID-related challenges, only 27% of parents reported having seen or heard anything about how these ESSER dollars were being used in their kids鈥� schools.

Just over 70% of parents, though, did report that their child鈥檚 public school had provided laptops or tablets for students since 2021 and about 45% said schools were offering additional tutoring or counseling services, which could have been supported by pandemic relief funds.

The ESSER funding results, Rodriguez said, reveal that parents did not get the voice they were promised in how that money was spent and that “a lot of things that we actually wanted 鈥� like additional mental health support 鈥� were not realized.” 

鈥淎re we whipping laptops and chromebooks at kids? Hell yes we are. Is that necessarily a good thing? I mean a lot of parents would argue that that鈥檚 not actually getting us to the outcome.鈥� 

Pro cell phones, wary of social media use 

To help inform the survey鈥檚 focus, Rodrigues said the National Parents Union presented data to their Family Advisory Council around student use of social media and its impact on mental health. 

A new understanding emerged from these discussions: Parents view cell phones and social media as separate issues, yet the two have become convoluted. This reframing was a lesson for her, she said, both as president of the organization and as a mother.

This same distinction was borne out in the survey results, she said: Parents want their kids to have access to their phones during the school day so that they can stay in touch with them, but they also recognize the dangers of social media and its negative impact on their children.

The top reasons kids use their phone, according to surveyed parents, is to contact family members, play games, contact friends, listen to music and take videos. A majority of parents (65%) also reported that their children used their phones for social media and 83% said there should be a minimum age limit on when kids are allowed to have their own social media accounts, with the largest share (20%) citing age 13. Just under 30% of parents said their children spend somewhere between four and five hours a day on their phone. 

Despite social media concerns, nearly half of parents said their child鈥檚 cell phone use had a positive impact on them and an additional 42% said phones have about an equally positive and negative impact. 

Parents listed a number of reasons they want their kids to take phones to school, with about 80% saying it was so they could use it in case of an emergency. About half of parents said it was an important tool for coordinating transportation to and from school, and 40% said they want their kids to be able to communicate with them about their mental health or other needs throughout the day. 

Just over half of parents believe that kids should sometimes be allowed to use their cell phones in school, while about a third believe students should be banned from using phones unless they鈥檙e needed for a medical condition or disability. There was very little parent support for locking up students鈥� cell phones in secure pouches or containers. 

鈥淚 think it goes back to something that we have been talking about since the beginning of the pandemic and the Great Parent Awakening,鈥� Rodrigues said, 鈥渨hich is that the implicit trust that parents have in schools鈥� that they’re going to tell us what’s going on and the communication 鈥� a lot of that has eroded. And that’s not toothpaste you can put back in the tube.鈥�

Disclosure: Walton Family Foundation provides financial support to the National Parents Union and to 社区黑料.

During the height of the pandemic, states received nearly $122 billion in Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief (ESSER III) funds to address student academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs. North Carolina received $3.6 billion, on top of previous federal Covid relief dollars.

Now, districts must spend those funds by Sept. 30 鈥� a deadline coming to be known as 鈥渢he funding cliff.鈥� On Monday, officials from the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) presented a to state lawmakers at a House education reform meeting.

The toolkit seeks to help districts with “data-driven financial decision making for post-ESSER spending,” per DPI’s presentation.

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“The toolkit is built to really support leaders in public schools as they think about the end of ESSER funding,” said Dr. Michael Maher, DPI’s deputy state superintendent. “The idea is we want districts to be able to have the toolkit to have really good conversations about how they spent their money, and whether those funds were effective or not.”

States received during the pandemic. The first round 鈥� roughly $13.2 billion 鈥� largely went toward personal protective equipment and devices for students to safely reopen schools. The second and third rounds 鈥� nearly $123 billion 鈥� were a little more flexible, but were intended to support academic and mental health at schools as they recovered from Covid.

DPI’s toolkit is specifically designed to help discussions between district leaders like the superintendent (or charter school leader), chief financial officer, and administrators with budgetary responsibilities. DPI presented the toolkit to superintendents across the state last month, Maher said, and is also hosting in February.

Districts should not include any one-time expenditures in their ROI discussions, per the presentation. Interventions that might be discussed in this process include high-dosage tutoring, summer learning initiatives, and robotics programs.

“The expectation is that the district now really has to make a decision about whether or not to continue an intervention,” Maher said. “In essence, this is what we’re trying to do, is give them the best available data that we can to help them drive themselves to the right decision for their given school, for their given context.”

Here are a few strategies the presentation identified for continuing initiatives currently funded through federal relief funds:

• Apply for specific grant funding, from private or federal sources.
• Request an increase in local funding from county commissioners.
• Use an innovative approach of “braiding” or overlapping federal funds.
• Identify funding from within current budget.

You can view DPI’s full presentation , and its full toolkit . Check out DPI’s dashboard’s for ESSER spending by school district .

More on remaining funds, cliff

In March 2021, State Superintendent Catherine Truitt created the Office of Learning Recovery and Acceleration to help find and make evidence-based decisions regarding recovery from lost instructional time during the start of the pandemic 鈥� with a large focus on how to spend ESSER funds well.

The state received roughly $6 billion total in federal Covid funds for K-12 education, Maher told lawmakers. Approximately $1.3 billion of North Carolina’s ESSER III funds remained to be allocated as of Oct. 31, according to

DPI’s toolkit includes a starting point for districts of last December through the end of this month. During this time, the presentation says, districts should convene a team to focus on evaluating ESSER spending. The toolkit presentation includes the following questions:

• What is the PSU鈥檚 risk for a dramatic fiscal cliff post-ESSER?
• What initiatives/programs/expenditures will different groups of stakeholders be most interested in sustaining post-ESSER?
• What are the PSU鈥檚 top 2-3 priorities and which expenditures most support those priorities?

Districts should obligate all their funds by April or May of 2024, Maher said. This is to ensure no funds get reverted back to the federal government after the September deadline.

An  issued in March 2023 identified 15 states facing the most complex challenges with the cliff. North Carolina was one of them.

However, a recent FutureEd  found that North Carolina school districts — especially in rural regions — generally spent more of their ESSER funds on short-term staffing fixes than long-term personnel commitments. “This decision could potentially ease their fiscal pain when the funds run out,”

On Monday, , asked Maher about how DPI is approaching planning for the replacement of technologies funded in the last few years through ESSER dollars.

“The technology, after two or three years, it’s just outdated. And that’s my big concern with the direction we’re headed in right now,” Biggs said. “If we can’t keep up with our students and our parents, they’re gonna find somewhere where they can keep up.”

Last month, DPI also gave  to the education reform committee That report showed that 114 of 115 school districts currently have one device per student. This allows students to take devices home with them to help with studying and homework.

However, 89 of 115 districts have reported they do not currently have sufficient resources 鈥渢o sustain their refresh cycles for student devices beyond ESSER funding.鈥� That鈥檚 more than 77% of districts.

Maher said that “a large chunk” of ESSER funds have gone toward HVAC systems, technology hardware and infrastructure, and access to broadband. He said DPI is still discussing how districts can “replenish technology as it becomes, in essence, out of date.”

, said good data will be key to good decisions moving forward.

“We鈥檙e going into post-Covid and those monies are running out,” Torbett said. “Hopefully, we have worked procedures out to help those agencies that used that money. For one time purposes should be okay, but there were some that have used the money for recurring expenses that we’ll be probably be hearing about in the days and weeks to come.”

If you have additional questions about DPI’s toolkit, email Rachel Wright-Junio, director of the Office of Learning Recovery & Acceleration, or Dr. Andrew Smith, the assistant state superintendent of DPI’s Office of Innovation.

This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Several national organizations tied to higher education have asked colleges and universities to delay their usual May enrollment deadlines to accommodate students who will not begin to receive their financial aid packages until March as a result of FAFSA delays.

The nine organizations, which include the National College Attainment Network and the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, or NASFAA, sent their  Wednesday to give students and their families more time to consider financial aid offers and decide where 鈥� or if 鈥� to attend college.

The news that application information, the data institutions use to determine the amount of financial aid a student will receive, would not be available for another four weeks 鈥� at least 鈥� concerned these groups. During a normal cycle, colleges and universities would begin to receive that information in October. This year, the information initially was expected in January.

In their joint statement, the groups encouraged schools to give some latitude to students and families as they consider their offers of admission and financial aid due to the continued delays with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, applicant data.

鈥淒uring the pandemic, many institutions extended their enrollment, scholarship, and financial aid deadlines beyond the traditional May 1 date, and we urge institutions to make similar accommodations this year,鈥� the statement read. 鈥淲e all want students and families to have the time they need to consider their financial options before making enrollment decisions.鈥�

El Paso Community College, like all higher education institutions around the country, awaits guidance and information from the Department of Education, said Keri Moe, EPCC鈥檚 associate vice president of External Relations Communications & Development.

鈥淲hile these delays are beyond the institution鈥檚 control, EPCC is committed to working with students and will revise deadlines, if possible and as allowed, to ensure as many students who are eligible for financial aid can receive it,鈥� Moe said.  

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso has a series of 鈥減riority dates鈥� because its programs in nursing, medicine, dental science and biomedical science start throughout the year.

鈥淪tudents who submit their FAFSA to us on or before these priority dates are considered for all grants, scholarships and available aid until funds are exhausted,鈥� a center spokesman said. 鈥淭he university鈥檚 Office of Financial Aid will adjust its priority awarding dates based on dates provided by the Department of Education.鈥�

A University of Texas at El Paso spokesman said UTEP does not have a decision deadline.

Justin Draeger, president of the NASFAA, said the current timeline will severely delay award letters and limit the choices of college-going students.

鈥淥ur nation鈥檚 colleges are once again left scrambling as they determine how best to work within these new timelines to issue aid offers as soon as possible 鈥� so the students who can least afford higher education aren鈥檛 the ones who ultimately pay the price for these missteps,鈥� Draeger said in a prepared statement.

Andres Orozco, an accounting, business and economics major at EPCC, said he had submitted his FAFSA for the 2024-25 academic year and hoped to receive the same $1,900 the college awarded him last year.

Orozco, a 2023 Irvin High School graduate, sighed when he learned about the latest delay, but was adamant that nothing would keep him from his academic journey. He said that he would divert more of the money he earns working at the Northeast Albertsons supermarket to his college fund if necessary.  

鈥淭his is not the best news,鈥� Orozco said. 鈥淭his will affect a lot of students who need that money to go to school. I will go to school no matter what. I want to finish. I will find a way.鈥�

Angel Waters, a senior at Transmountain Early College High School, said he plans to complete his FAFSA soon. He said he wants to study computer science at UTEP or New Mexico State University, and be part of NMSU鈥檚 Air Force ROTC program.

Waters, a first-generation college student, said that while he is not concerned about the delays now, he will be if it takes longer than early March to receive his financial aid letters.

Kayla Carter, a 17-year-old senior who is homeschooled, said that she has yet to fill out her FAFSA, but hopes that she will get enough financial aid to enroll in Heartland Baptist Bible College in Oklahoma City, Okla., to study ministry. If that does not work out, she wants to enroll at EPCC or UTEP as a nursing major.

鈥淏eing away from home will be an issue if my (financial aid) is delayed,鈥� said Carter, who lives on the East Side.

The expected delays in the financial aid packages is the latest setback for the new FAFSA, dubbed the 鈥淏etter鈥� FAFSA because it was designed to be simpler and faster for students and their families to fill out. It also will give students more opportunities for more financial aid. The application overhaul was ordered by Congress as part of the .

The form usually is available Oct. 1 and institutions receive the application information within days. This cycle, the Department of Education did not launch the FAFSA until Dec. 30 on a limited basis. It became available around the clock in early January. Initially, the government told colleges and universities to expect the applicant information by late January.

The submitted forms have their own , but eventually an ISIR (Institutional Student Information Record) is routed to the higher education institutions or career schools requested by the students. In the past, this process took a few days, but some experts estimate that this cycle could take a few weeks or longer. Once a school receives the applicant information, it usually takes that institution several weeks to evaluate, process, package and send award letters to students. The speed of that process depends on the institution鈥檚 resources.

This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

With five children, Malia Tsuchiya is no stranger to the high cost of raising a family in Hawaii. But with her 3-year-old beginning preschool this past October and her oldest son attending college later this year, Tsuchiya said her family finances are strained more than ever.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a heavy load to carry,鈥� Tsuchiya said, adding that she currently pays $1,100 a month to send her youngest child to preschool. 

The cost for many families will be reduced next year thanks to changes to the  that expanded the criteria to qualify for state subsidies to include families with 3-year-olds and those making up to 300% of the federal poverty guideline. Previously, the program only helped to cover the preschool tuition of 4-year-olds and had more restrictive income requirements.

鈥淭he money that we鈥檙e saving is going to help us so dramatically,鈥� Tsuchiya said.

The number of children qualifying for these tuition subsidies is projected to double this year, increasing demand for early learning as the state progresses toward its ambitious goal of providing all 3- and 4-year-olds access to preschool by 2032. 

Currently, roughly half of Hawaii鈥檚 children do not attend preschool, according to , an initiative introduced by Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke to help the state achieve its 2032 goal.

Luke said the changes mean even a family of four making a household income of $100,000 could now qualify for a preschool tuition subsidy.

Federal Relief Funds Will Be Missed

According to the initiative, the state  in the next eight years to ensure that all eligible children opting into preschool will have a spot at school. But the end of federal Covid-19 relief dollars could undermine the state鈥檚 efforts to expand its preschool sector. 

The federal relief funds totaled over $110 million, with roughly $72 million expiring last November. The last of the funding, totaling $44 million, must be spent by September, according to the Department of Human Services.

The preschool sector was in a precarious place even before the pandemic, said Julie Kashen, a senior fellow at The Century Foundation, a New York-based think tank. The expiration of the federal relief funding means almost 130 child care programs, including infant-toddler centers and preschools, could close in Hawaii,  Kashen co-authored.

The impact of lost funds might not be immediate, Kashen said. But, she added, if states fail to invest in their child care providers, some centers will start reducing staff and may eventually close all together.

While Hawaii has prioritized the expansion of preschool facilities in recent years, the state faces continued challenges with the recruitment and retention of preschool workers. Some providers worry that the end of federal funding will make it even harder to sufficiently compensate their teachers.

At Seagull Schools on Oahu, Chief Executive Officer Megan McCorriston said federal funding made all the difference for her staff by helping to supplement salaries during the pandemic.

鈥淚t really made them feel validated in their work in a way that wouldn鈥檛 have been possible without the additional federal funding,鈥� McCorriston said, adding the funds also helped keep tuition relatively low at the schools鈥� five preschool and child care facilities.

The state provided over 3,000 child care employees with $2,500 bonuses using the federal funding, said Dayna Luka, child care program administrator at DHS. Over 600 providers also received funds to cover rent, payroll, professional development and other expenses.

The extra money was essential, McCorriston said, especially when Seagull Schools was enrolling fewer students than usual during the height of the pandemic. That resulted in less revenue for the school even as operating costs increased due to inflation, she added.

The federal relief funds stabilized the early learning workforce as much as possible during the pandemic, said Deborah Zysman, executive director of . According to DHS, the state鈥檚 child care workforce declined by approximately 30 providers from 2020 to 2022. 

But, Zysman said, more investments are needed if the state wants to expand its preschool sector.

State Solutions Needed 

Approximately 2,800 children could qualify for Preschool Open Doors tuition subsidies this year, Luke said. But there鈥檚 no guarantee that families will be able to find a preschool center enrolling new students. 

Because of the workforce shortage, not all preschools are operating at full capacity, said Vivian Eto, strategy and project management lead for . She鈥檚 hopeful the Legislature can offer a solution this year. 

 would establish a wage subsidy for child care providers, ensuring a minimum of $16 an hour. A similar bill was introduced last year but died in the chaotic final hours of the session. 

Rep. Lisa Marten, chair of the House Human Services Committee, said the subsidies proposed in the bill are intended to replace the expiring federal Covid relief funds.

鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping to pass that bill this session,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut there鈥檚 a lot of competing needs, including Maui, so there鈥檚 no guarantee.鈥�

Yet, the state continues to push ahead in expanding its free preschool offerings. Currently,  operates 49 public preschool classrooms with a total of 947 seats, said executive director Yuuko Arikawa-Cross. The state plans to add 130 classrooms by 2026 and complete a total of 231 classrooms by 2028, according to the School Facilities Authority.

While Zysman welcomed the expansion of public preschool facilities, she predicted that ongoing workforce shortages could pose some limitations. Pay tends to be higher for teachers in state-run preschools, and some private schools may lose their employees to the public sector, she added.

Paula Yanagi, executive director of Ka Hale O Na Keiki Preschool on Hawaii island, said she鈥檚 also lost some students to a public preschool classroom that opened at Honokaa Elementary School in 2014. While her enrollment has since recovered, Yanagi said, she wishes the state had first invested in community preschools like her own, especially in such a small, rural community.  

But, Yanagai said, after the influx of federal funding for providers during the pandemic, she remains hopeful that the state now understands the importance of supporting preschools in years to come.  

鈥淚鈥檓 hoping this will just be the kickoff,鈥� she said. 

Civil Beat鈥檚 education reporting is supported by a grant from Chamberlin Family Philanthropy.

This was originally published in

Every weekday morning and afternoon, a fleet of yellow buses rolls out all over the state, picking up and dropping off Georgia students.

Keeping all those wheels turning isn鈥檛 cheap 鈥� Georgia鈥檚 school districts combined spend more than $1.2 billion to safely shuttle kids between school and home 鈥� and costs are only getting higher as more students enroll and the costs of buses, fuel and labor rise.

For more than two decades, local districts have been stuck footing those bills. According to the Georgia Budget Policy Institute, the amount of money the state pitches in for transportation has been basically stagnant since the early 2000s. Those state dollars used to fund over half of the districts鈥� transportation costs, but now only cover about 17%.

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Gov. Brian Kemp鈥檚 proposed 2025 budget, which he unveiled Thursday, aims to pick up an additional $205 million of that, accounting for 40% of operational costs. The new spending is part of a planned $1.4 billion in new education spending, which also includes teacher raises and grants for school safety.

鈥淢eeting our obligations as a fiscally conservative state means meeting our obligations to our local school systems,鈥� Kemp wrote.

New money for yellow buses may not be as attention-grabbing as raises for teachers or a grant to hire school resource officers, but those dollars will go a long way, said Stephen Owens, director of education at the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute.

鈥淯nlike in the past where it鈥檚 been this one time funding, this forever sets the baseline higher,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his is a huge step forward for these districts. And when you pair that with other formula changes like the $100 million for school security grants, for that to be a continued line item for schools, the impact is going to be amazing for districts.鈥�

The amount is not set to change with inflation, Owens added, so if costs continue to rise in the years to come, a future governor and legislators will need to take action to keep funding at the same level. But for now, reducing the costs of buses will free up schools to pay for all the other things they need.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e going to see a lot of these funds that come down from the state just as a whole pot of money because of the vast amount of flexibility we provide districts on how to spend dollars from the state,鈥� Owens said. 鈥淪o that will open up dollars for better pay for substitutes, up to date curriculum, maybe continuing some of the programs that they started during the pandemic with federal dollars now with local dollars.鈥�

Federal pandemic relief funds are set to dry up in September for schools nationwide, and districts, especially those in lower-wealth areas, will likely face cuts to staff, programs and extracurriculars.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Georgia Recorder maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor John McCosh for questions: info@georgiarecorder.com. Follow Georgia Recorder on and .

Billions of federal dollars are available to help Louisiana students make up ground lost in the classroom to the COVID-19 pandemic, but some educators say they don鈥檛 have the staff to put the plans in place and are concerned about what happens once the money runs out.

Louisiana schools have roughly $2.3 billion left to spend out of back-to-back allocations of federal pandemic stimulus dollars that totaled $4 billion. That teachers are already stretched thin 鈥� and new ones so increasingly hard to find 鈥� is at the heart of why so much of the remedial COVID money has not been spent.

The state Senate could consider a proposal this week that would allow schools to devote more time to what鈥檚 being called accelerated instruction. , from Sen. Patrick McMath, R-Covington, updates that targeted fourth- through eighth-graders who failed to achieve mastery level in math and reading on state assessment tests. Mastery signifies that the student met expectations for their grade level.

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This year鈥檚 version adds third-graders and eliminates an accelerated learning committee for each student that includes their parent or guardian and their teacher. Instead, parents will be provided a plan that details their child鈥檚 accelerated instruction.

McMath also wants to change the instruction time specified in last year鈥檚 legislation. Instead of meeting once-weekly for a total of 30 hours over the ensuing summer and school year, the tutoring sessions would have to last at least 30 minutes and be held no fewer than three times a week. Sessions could take place during or after school and over the summer.

Tutoring groups are allowed but no larger than five students, down from a dozen in existing law, unless parents are OK with more participants.

Shenoa Warren, East Baton Rouge Parish Public Schools chief of literacy, called McMath鈥檚 bill 鈥渁n unfunded mandate鈥� when it was advanced Thursday by the Senate Education Committee.

鈥淲e would hope the state could help us build capacity to have staff provide the extra support,鈥� Warren said.

A staff supplement option for schools is included in this year鈥檚 bill. It requires the Louisiana Department of Education to publish a list of 鈥渁pproved high-quality tutoring providers鈥� by no later than October that schools can hire to bolster in-house faculty efforts. The providers鈥� tutors have to pass the same background checks as school employees, and they must provide live instruction that can be offered in person, online or both.

Michael Lombardo with BookNook, a company that provides what he referred to as 鈥渉igh-dosage tutoring,鈥� appeared before the Senate committee and shared facts on where lawmakers approved policy similar to McMath鈥檚. BookNook has worked with approximately 300,000 students and 2,500 tutors in Texas, according to Lombardo.

Opponents of McMath鈥檚 bills include the state organizations representing school boards and system superintendents as well as the Louisiana Federation of Teachers.

Janet Pope, executive director of the Louisiana School Boards Association, questioned why the proposal calls for the state to provide a list of approved vendors when school districts can already hire them on their own. Senate Bill 177 preserves that option, but schools must apply for a waiver from the state education department if they want to hire a vendor that鈥檚 not on the list, which Pope said removes autonomy from local school boards.

Michael Faulk, executive director for the Louisiana Association of School Superintendents, said McMath鈥檚 bill would force schools to scrap plans already submitted to address COVID-related student deficiencies 鈥� a scenario that risks running past state planning deadlines.

Ethan Melancon with the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education said there are members who support McMath鈥檚 proposal, but they also have concerns about additional bureaucracy, redundancy with existing remediation efforts and what happens when the COVID money runs out.

Brigette Neiland with Stand for Children shared her support for the bill with the Senate committee. She rejected arguments that schools should not embrace accelerated learning just because the COVID stimulus will eventually run out.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not as if helping students for years before then is a waste of time or money,鈥� Neiland said.

McMath said this year鈥檚 bill 鈥渁dds teeth鈥� to his measure approved last year, although it so far doesn鈥檛 contain any punishment for schools that don鈥檛 spend the federal money. It requires聽 every local school board to file reports annually with the state by June 1 that spells out what high-quality tutoring providers it hired, how many students needed the extra support, how much it spent on academic remediation and the source of the money, and how it adjusted the school-day schedule to accommodate the additional instruction.

The state education department, in turn, will summarize the information from each school board and post it on its website by July 1.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Louisiana Illuminator maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Greg LaRose for questions: info@lailluminator.com. Follow Louisiana Illuminator on and .

The pandemic accelerated a yearslong decline in the mental health of the nation鈥檚 children and teens. The number of young people experiencing sadness, hopelessness and thoughts of suicide has increased dramatically, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In response, states, cities and school districts are using COVID-19 relief dollars and their own money to launch programs to help students and teachers recognize the symptoms of mental illness and suicide risk and build support services to help students who are struggling.

Flush with federal pandemic relief grants, some schools also are creating programs they hope will foster emotional well-being for students and increase their sense of connection to their schools and communities, said Sharon Hoover, co-director of the National Center for School Mental Health.

Typically, federal education money is allocated to states based on their school-age population. But 90% of the money , which typically have wide leeway to decide how to use it.

Some states and cities also are adding their own money to fund youth mental health projects.

This month, for example, New York City Democratic Mayor Eric Adams  a broad mental health agenda that includes a youth suicide prevention program.

In February, North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper  that the state would spend $7.7 million to provide suicide prevention training for university and community college personnel, create a mental health hotline for students and develop resiliency training for faculty, staff and students.

In January, New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy unveiled a $14 million mental health grant program that targets K-12 schools with the greatest need.

And Rhode Island Democratic Gov. Daniel McKee  a $7.2 million program to train K-12 school employees to detect mental illness and suicide risk, respond to it and connect students and families to community social services.

Last year, Illinois, Iowa and Maryland launched programs to provide mental health training for school personnel.

And Arizona, California and South Carolina raised Medicaid reimbursement rates to incentivize behavioral health providers to provide services in schools, according to a February  from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

February data from the CDC shows that 鈥渕ental health challenges, experiences of violence, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors鈥� rose sharply  among all teens, but particularly among girls.  

More than two-thirds of public schools reported an increase in the number of students seeking mental health services, according to  by the Institute of Education Sciences, the data analysis arm of the U.S. Department of Education. And only a little more than half of the schools said they felt their school could effectively provide the mental health services students needed.

Even before the pandemic, a fifth of children ages 3 to 17 had a mental, emotional, behavioral or developmental disorder, according to a  from the U.S. Surgeon General. Globally, symptoms of depression and anxiety among children and youth doubled during the pandemic, according to the report.

This year, data collected by nonprofit mental health advocates Mental Health America indicates that nearly  with major depression do not receive any mental health treatment.

To address the crisis, the Biden administration this month proposed a budget that includes $428 million in education and mental health grants states could use to help students who already are struggling with mental illness and to create programs aimed at improving the emotional well-being of all students. Congress would need to approve the money.

At the same time, K-12 schools are slated to receive $1 billion in grants over the next five years to stem rising mental illness and violence in schools, under a  Congress passed in the wake of the June 2022 elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

In addition to new funding, state and local officials have until Sept. 30 to decide how to use their share of the remaining $54.3 billion in education relief funds, part of pandemic aid Congress approved in 2020. And they have until Sept. 30, 2024, to decide how much of the remaining $122.8 billion in education grants under the  Act of 2021 to spend on mental health.

Mental health advocates have long rued the lack of federal and state funding to support school mental health programs. Federal relief dollars to combat the learning loss and emotional distress caused by the pandemic, they say, present an unprecedented opportunity for states to bolster school mental health resources that have been vastly underfunded for decades. 

鈥淭here never has been sufficient funding to meet the mental health needs of our communities, and certainly not our children,鈥� said Hannah Wesolowski, chief advocacy officer at the National Alliance on Mental Illness, a grassroots nonprofit organization that advocates for people affected by mental illness.

鈥淣ow that we have this confluence of factors affecting kids鈥� mental health 鈥� including the pandemic, social media and a wave of state legislation that鈥檚 harmful to LGBTQ youth 鈥� we don鈥檛 have a solid system to fall back on,鈥� she said.

To build and sustain such a system, Hoover said, states, schools and communities will need to better balance their investments in academics with their investments in mental health.

Ultimately, Hoover said, 鈥渢he hope is that we take a public health approach 鈥� like seatbelts in cars 鈥� to emotional well-being supports in schools for all students, not just those who are suffering the most. We need supports for everybody.

鈥淚f there鈥檚 anything COVID taught us, it鈥檚 that the mental health of our children and their ability to learn are inextricably linked.鈥�

This article originally appeared at .

Public charter schools may have lost some of the luster they enjoyed with centrist Democrats in Washington, D.C., a decade or two ago, but a top Biden administration education official this week sought to reassure the sector that it enjoys broad support on both sides of the aisle.

鈥淚 do not believe that the bottom has fallen out from under the bipartisan coalition for public charter schools,鈥� said Roberto Rodriguez, assistant secretary for planning, evaluation, and policy development at the U.S. Department of Education. 鈥淚 think if that were the case, you would see the funding completely deteriorating from this program. And in fact, you’re not seeing that.鈥�

The Biden administration has faced harsh criticism for its stance on its $440 million , a key federal grant that more than half of charter schools rely upon. This comes as centrist Democrats, once the sector鈥檚 biggest backers, have sought political support from teachers鈥� unions, which for decades have forcefully opposed charters.

During the 2020 presidential campaign, then-candidate Joe Biden admitted, 鈥淚鈥檓 not a charter school fan.鈥�

But on Wednesday during a panel discussion at Washington, D.C.鈥檚 Brookings Institution, Rodriguez adopted a softer posture.

鈥淲e support high-quality public schools for all kids, including high-quality public charter schools,鈥� he told Brookings Nonresident Senior Fellow Doug Harris, the panel鈥檚 moderator. 鈥淥ur budget stands behind that. The work we’re doing stands behind that. The rulemaking that we’ve proposed is not an effort to tear down the charter school sector. In fact, it is an effort to further promote that objective.鈥�

But the administration has warned that more than one in seven charter schools funded by the grant either never opened or shut down before their grant period ended, in effect wasting an in taxpayer funding. In response, last year it proposed new regulations that critics said amounted to a new 鈥渨ar鈥� on charter schools.

The originally proposed rule for applicants required them to prove their schools met 鈥渦nmet demand鈥� in existing public schools 鈥� a requirement that charter advocates said ignored a bigger problem in district schools: poor quality.

The department also said applicants had to collaborate with 鈥渁t least one traditional public school or traditional school district,鈥� in effect giving districts a veto over their plans, according to charter advocates.

A third requirement said charter schools had to show they wouldn鈥檛 worsen district desegregation efforts or increase racial or socio-economic segregation or isolation in schools.

Taken together, , the draft requirements were 鈥渢ailor-made to ensure that the most successful charter schools won鈥檛 be replicated or expanded.鈥�

The education department received 26,550 comments on the proposed regulations, andangry charter school parents the White House in May to protest Biden鈥檚 stance on funding regulations.

eventually admitted that the final rules, issued in August, were less harmful but 鈥渘ot without impact鈥� on future growth of the sector. Among the concerns: a shortened window for submitting applications.

Two groups , saying, among other things, that the department lacked authority to impose new criteria on the grants, which Congress approved as part of a massive spending bill in December. It level-funded the charter grant for the . 

Harris, who has long studied the sector, noted that recent campaign rhetoric 鈥渉as been different from what the actions have been in the administration,鈥� with more public-facing skepticism from lawmakers about charters than 鈥渨hat’s happening in the nuts and bolts of committee rooms.鈥� He asked the panel if they see the coalition for charters 鈥渇racturing鈥� on the ground, especially among centrist Democrats.

Shavar Jeffries, CEO of the KIPP Foundation, which trains educators for the network鈥檚 280 schools, observed that even in the movement鈥檚 鈥渉alcyon heydays,鈥� charters were simultaneously 鈥渃ontentious among a variety of different constituencies鈥� and the beneficiaries of significant bipartisan support. That continues today, he said.

鈥淚 do think there’s a kind of false idea [that] people are moving away from the issue in ways that [are] maybe inconsistent with what we’ve seen in the past,鈥� he said.

But Jeffries said opponents of the Biden regulations had a point about not wanting to collaborate with districts, since some district officials are 鈥渘ot interested in the practices we’re trying to share.鈥� He added, 鈥淵ou can take a horse to water, but you can’t take it much further than that [if] people aren’t interested.鈥�

In a few instances, Jeffries said, opponents 鈥渁re actually acting aggressively to undermine the capacity for public charter schools to exist.鈥� He recalled local superintendents who were not only opposed to KIPP practices, but 鈥渟adly, in some instances鈥idn’t even want us to be here. So the idea that we’re going to obtain their support is obviously not going to happen.鈥�

He also said the requirement that charter schools not worsen segregation can, in some cases, amount to a requirement that schools serving Black and Latino students essentially find white students in the suburbs.

Charter schools serve more than 3 million students, recent research shows, about two-thirds of them Black or Hispanic and most low-income. 

The Brookings panel also included from another panelist, Katrina Bulkley of Montclair State University, who led a team that found charter school authorizers are a key but little-studied aspect of the charter school world.

While some authorizers say equity is key to their mission, they found, others focus on choice or 鈥渕arket logic.鈥� And they found that authorizers that prioritized equity received applications from schools that also prioritized equity. 鈥淭his really suggests to us that those beliefs and the practices of authorizers are shaping what applicants are submitting,鈥� Bulkley said.

Correction: An earlier version of this story contained an incorrect funding amount for the federal Charter Schools Program.

Georgia teachers will soon be heading back to their classrooms with some extra cash for supplies.

Gov. Brian Kemp visited Ola High School in Henry County Friday to announce a $125 grant using his office鈥檚 share of COVID-19 federal relief funds for full-time public school teachers and staff members who provide instructional and supportive services to students on a daily basis.

Kemp told Ola teachers and faculty he hopes the funds will help out in the first school year since the pandemic not affected by distanced or remote learning.

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鈥淲e hope this $125 back-to-school supply supplement will aid in these efforts and help us close the learning loss gap caused by the pandemic,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hen it comes to protecting our children and their bright futures, we will not quit or slow down. That work will continue well into the new school year and those that follow.鈥�

The money can be used for classroom materials and supplies or for products to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

During a brief classroom tour, Ola High Spanish teacher Dorcas Acosta told Kemp she already has plans for some of the money.

鈥淚 have my eye on these great manipulatives for the classroom with little questions on these boxes, kind of impromptu questions in Spanish, which gets them ready for real world impromptu questions,鈥� said Acosta, who is also Ola鈥檚 teacher of the year. 鈥淪o, it鈥檚 all about their little secret weapon and being globally competent and culturally aware. That鈥檚 what I鈥檓 excited to do with it.鈥�

Kemp announced a similar $125 disbursement using federal COVID-19 aid in January. The latest installment will work the same way, and teachers will receive a notification about the money through the education funding platform ClassWallet in the coming days, the governor鈥檚 office said.

Kemp鈥檚 office did not release the cost of the payments, but the previous $125 grants amounted to just over $15 million.

The money for both sets of payments came from the federal government鈥檚 Governor鈥檚 Emergency Education Relief Fund. Kemp鈥檚 office said $59.7 million remains in the fund, and more awards are set to be announced in the coming months.

Kemp is locked in a fierce with Democrat Stacey Abrams, who has criticized Kemp鈥檚 focus on controlling classroom content as wrongheaded and called for further pay raises for educators beyond the $5,000 achieved during Kemp鈥檚 term. Abrams鈥� education platform calls for an $11,000 increase in average teacher salary, which she says would put Georgia in the top ten states for best teacher pay.

An of 950 Georgia adults conducted July 21 through 24 had Kemp and Abrams in a virtual tie 鈥� Kemp had 45% of the vote to Abrams鈥� 44%.

But an among 902 likely Georgia voters conducted July 14 through 22 gave Kemp a bigger lead, 48% to 43%.

 is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Georgia Recorder maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor John McCosh for questions: info@georgiarecorder.com. Follow Georgia Recorder on  and .

The U.S. Department of Education, along with Vice President Kamala Harris, made the announcement in , saying the department will work with HBCUs that have been stricken by bomb threats, to provide mental health resources, enhanced campus security and other measures.

The grant awards range from $50,000 to $150,000 per institution.

Under a program called Project SERV, short-term funding is provided to higher education institutions that 鈥渉ave experienced a violent or traumatic incident,鈥� according to the press release from the U.S. Department of Education.

In Florida, two private HBCUs were placed on lockdowns due to bomb threats in February, during Black History Month. Those schools are Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach and Edward Waters University in Jacksonville. Both could apply for the federal grants.

Meanwhile, Florida lawmakers approved millions in the 2022-23 state budget for the private institutions affected by bomb threats as well as another private HBCU private school. The Florida Legislative Black Caucus, during the 2022 legislative session, included continued funding for all HBCUs, as by the Florida Phoenix.

For instance, Bethune-Cookman University would receive nearly $16.9 million for 鈥渟tudent access and retention,鈥� while Edward Waters University would receive $6.4 million for the same services. However, Gov. Ron DeSantis must approve the final state budget and he has the authority to veto components of it.

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a written statement:

鈥淭he recent bomb threats experienced by HBCUs have shaken students and fractured their sense of safety and belonging, which are critical to their academic success and wellbeing. We, at the Department of Education, recognize how these threats evoke a painful history of violence against Black Americans in this country that is especially traumatizing to HBCU students, faculty, and staff.鈥�

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Diane Rado for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on and .

Others used emergency relief money to retrofit buildings with ventilation systems, add laptop computers for students and pay for online teaching.

But the state still holds more than $1 billion meant to help school districts address pandemic-related issues.聽

Since March 2020, Oregon has been allocated $1.7 billion in emergency relief funding from the federal government to get students back in classrooms, and to get them caught up on their education after school closures.聽

Now, more than a year later, most of that money remains unspent.

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School districts so far have been reimbursed for about $222 million in emergency relief projects, according to the Oregon Education Department. That means just under 8% of all dollars have made it back to districts.

The bulk of that money has gone to staff, technology and capital projects 鈥� getting kids laptops and wifi, upgrading ventilation systems and adding more classrooms to encourage social distancing.聽

But emergency purchases also included weight room equipment, bleachers and playgrounds.聽

Districts must spend at least $201 million of Oregon鈥檚 latest relief money to combat learning loss over the next three years, but data from the Education Department show that less than 1% has been distributed so far for that purpose.

The reasons behind what districts are buying, and when, are complex, but they have broad latitude in using the extra money.

The Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund

The Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund was signed into federal law in 鈥嬧�婱arch 2020 as school buildings in many states were closing and classes shifted online.聽

The first round of money was ready to go out to states immediately for buying personal protective equipment for staff and students who had to remain in school buildings, and to help schools pay for the transition to online learning. That included laptops for students, new online teaching software, network security upgrades and internet hotspots for families that otherwise had no internet access.

It also paid for more teachers, substitute teachers, counselors and support staff.聽

The money was awarded from the federal government to the state Education Department, which reimburses districts for their purchases. Purchases over $5,000 must have prior approval from the department.

Oregon鈥檚 share of funds in that first round was $121 million.聽

Most of the state鈥檚 216 school and education service districts have claimed some portion of the funds and to date, more than $100 million of that first round funding has been spent.聽

The second and third rounds of funding came in December 2020 and March 2021. Oregon was allocated $499 million in the second round to spend on getting schools ready to reopen.聽

In the third round, the state was allocated $1.1 billion.聽

It was additional money for school reopening that came with a new federal mandate 鈥� school districts had to spend at least 20% on combating learning losses. Schools have until 2024 to spend the latest round of money.

Little to learning loss so far

Of the $1.1 billion available to Oregon districts in the third round, about $18 million has been distributed so far, according to the state Education Department. That has gone to paying for summer school programs, salaries, payroll costs, retirement costs and technology and supplies.聽

Districts are allowed to use the relief funds to pay for new teachers, and boost pay for current employees for taking on additional work during the pandemic and to retain them.

Of the $202 million set aside to help students catch up on their education, about $1.4 million 鈥� less than .05% 鈥� has been distributed so far, according to the Education Department.聽

Cynthia Stinson is senior manager of federal investments and pandemic renewal at the state Education Department. She said timing is the issue with the relatively slow payout for extra learning programs.

She said most schools haven鈥檛 had to draw on the emergency funds yet to pay for tutoring, counseling, afterschool and remediation programs. Many only just recently submitted budgets to meet an October deadline set by the federal government, and some are taking a long-range approach with the money, having been given three years to spend it.聽

In an email, Marc Siegel, communications director at the Education Department wrote, 鈥淚t is important to note that the three relief acts came in very short succession.鈥澛�

Siegel said many districts are still spending previous rounds of money and added, 鈥淲e are only a little over three months into the school year.鈥澛�

But Oregon schools have not wasted much time getting capital projects funded, some of which include renovating running tracks, getting weight training equipment and upgrading playgrounds.

Stinson said districts have been given flexibility on what they can buy.聽

The Education Department doesn鈥檛 track every rejection of a district鈥檚 , but said it turned down requests for baseball and football scoreboards, some requests for bleachers, the request for a vehicle to use for student outreach and one request for a roof replacement.

鈥淥ne of the goals is also to emerge stronger post pandemic,鈥� Stinson said of the emergency funds. 鈥淎s we talk with districts, and understand what it might really mean for a rural or frontier district in Oregon to redo a playground, it’s not only for all of the kids in school, but it’s the only playground in the community, right?鈥�

The Capital Chronicle emailed 150 Oregon school district superintendents seeking information about how they used their latest round of relief dollars. Of those, 30 superintendents or district representatives responded.聽

Three wrote that they had been posting reports on their district websites about where their relief dollars were going, six sent spreadsheets detailing projects and a few said they hadn鈥檛 claimed any of the latest funding but planned to.

Jeff Clark, Amity School District superintendent, said so far most of his district鈥檚 relief dollars have gone to improving learning conditions.

鈥淲e have some older buildings with poor ventilation. Supplies, materials and equipment would be next on the list,鈥� he wrote via email.聽

Clark said the district is using dollars from the state鈥檚 Student Investment Account to help recover lost learning. That鈥檚 part of the $1 billion a year Oregon schools get under the Student Success Act that was signed into law in 2019. Several district superintendents said they preferred using that more stable funding instead of short-term federal help to pay for more staff and for programming to combat learning loss.

In the Forest Grove School District, emergency relief dollars are being used for reading and math interventions and tutoring middle schoolers, summer school activities and social and emotional support staff, according to David Warner, district communications director.聽

In Hermiston, Superintendent Tricia Mooney said the district wants to use the latest round of relief money to support summer school programs to help get students caught up.聽

In North Bend, school officials plan to ask for $3 million to help combat learning loss. In the Siuslaw School District, they are planning to ask for about $691,000 to combat learning loss over the current school year, according to Superintendent Andrew Grzeskowiak.聽

Among most of the district leaders who responded, transitions to online learning, staff, payroll and retirement, along with capital expenses and supplies were among the biggest expenses incurred so far.

HVAC and parking lots

In an effort to get schools fully reopened in the fall, the Klamath County School District initiated construction projects with the emergency funds.

The district updated HVAC systems in an elementary school and high school, and added extra classrooms to buildings so there鈥檇 be fewer kids in each room. They also added new turf fields to several schools and resurfaced a parking lot.聽

Despite being short staffed, like most districts in the state, Superintendent Glen Szymoniak said the short window to use federal relief aid meant he wasn鈥檛 going to use it to do temporary hires of teachers and counselors and programs that couldn鈥檛 be sustained.

鈥淲ith money that only lasts a couple years, you do projects. That鈥檚 the golden rule right there. You don鈥檛 use it to hire people and cut them loose in a few years. It gives you a bad reputation and it鈥檚 just a terrible way to treat people,鈥� he said.聽

Rather than hiring new people, he used some of the relief money to pay employees to surrender vacation time.

鈥淲e鈥檙e buying that off at a bit of a higher rate,鈥� he said, 鈥渟o that we can have them stay in the classroom.鈥�

He also bought lawn mowers and floor cleaners that were faster and more efficient than what he had, allowing grounds staff and janitors more time to complete other sanitation and maintenance work and negating the need to do more hiring.聽

鈥淐ustodians have floor scrubbers, now there鈥檚 time to sanitize. They weren鈥檛 sanitizing like this before,鈥� he said. 鈥淧rincipals with tight budgets would buy cheap mowers. Well then, none of the other work gets done. With a high capacity mower [custodians] have more time to do other stuff.鈥�

He said investments like the turf fields and running tracks were important for sustaining school programs that students needed during the pandemic.

鈥淭he first turf I applied for was for Chiloquin,鈥� Szymoniak said of the elementary school in his district. Because of drought and the resulting water restrictions, 鈥淚f there鈥檚 not enough runoff and the lake level is a certain height they shut off the irrigation for farmers, ranchers and for us. In Chiloquin, our playgrounds turn to dust,鈥� he said.聽

The turf became an essential place for students to play, have for recess and for extracurricular activities.聽

Szymoniak said he鈥檚 committed to investing more than required into activities that combat learning loss. He said his district is already spending and will continue to spend upwards of 38% of the district鈥檚 relief dollars on learning loss. So far, the district has set up after-school tutoring and drama programs, paid for buses to get kids to and from after-school programs and provided teacher training for paraprofessionals who might consider becoming teachers in the district.

For long-term expenses, including staffing and offering more social and emotional support programs, he is using the state-funded Student Investment Account.

鈥淪chools are institutions just like a university. You can鈥檛 run a university with a whole lot one year and barely enough the other. They run best when there is stable, consistent funding,鈥� he said.

Accountability for the millions

Jennifer Patterson, an assistant superintendent at the Education Department, said agency officials will continue to talk with school district superintendents about how to make the most of the money.

鈥淲e would want to be in conversation with districts to say, what are you noticing about this investment? Is it yielding outcomes that you can see? And to help people do what educators do best, which is to notice a need and be responsive to shifting their investment and strategy if they’re not seeing the kinds of outcomes that they predicted.鈥�

The department itself gets to set aside 10% of all the relief dollars, or roughly $165 million, for emergencies, combating learning losses, helping charter schools, the Oregon School for the Deaf and juvenile corrections programs.聽

So far the department $56 million to combat learning losses.

鈥淭he arc of the money is long and we’ve talked about going slow to go fast,鈥� Patterson said. 鈥淚n the sense of, you know, this money doesn’t have to be spent until September 30, 2024. So, really taking a longer view of the investment over time, that will maximize meeting the strengths and needs of local communities and students.鈥�

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oregon Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Les Zaitz for questions: info@oregoncapitalchronicle.com. Follow Oregon Capital Chronicle on and .

The library, on the National Register of Historic Places, a hub for Brisbee families, has a leaky roof, and cracks in the facade. The ceiling in the young adult room collapsed recently, forcing the room to close for three weeks.

鈥淵ou can follow the story of Bisbee through the story of our library, because we鈥檝e been here all along,鈥� said library manager Jason Macoviak.

The Copper Queen is at the center of community life: From hosting an event every Halloween for the community to bringing fairytales to life; to creating a separate room for teens 鈥� until the ceiling collapsed and the room had to be closed for a time.

鈥淭hat is the hardest demographic to reach,鈥� said Macoviak. 鈥淲e lost that engagement for a bit.鈥�

Hundreds of library buildings in the U.S. are more than 100 years old and are in dire condition, according to a recent report from the American Library Association which many of the nation鈥檚 17,000 libraries need $32 billion dollars for construction and renovation. 

During the pandemic many libraries across the country became lifelines for residents, providing everything from Wi-Fi from parking lots, notary services and curbside crafts projects for kids.

Though the average age of a library building is more than 40 years old, there has not been dedicated federal infrastructure funding since 1997.

As a result the buildings are plagued with old wiring, plumbing, leaky roofs, malfunctioning fire alarms and sprinklers, the report found. Because of the old wiring, they often lack internet access. At current funding levels it would take 25 years for the work to get done, the report found.

Nine states 鈥� Alaska, California, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, New York, Washington, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia 鈥� estimate their public libraries need more than $8 billion for construction and renovation.

The Build America鈥檚 Libraries Act, which was introduced back in January 2021, would fund upgrades to library infrastructure to recover from natural disasters, environmental hazards, and accessibility barriers. With Congress working on a $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation plan, the Senate has until September 15th to finish allocating the funds. The ALA has lobbied to include the Build America鈥檚 Libraries Act in the new plan.

鈥淲e know that libraries are well loved by communities across the country,鈥� said ALA president Patty Wong. 鈥淭his legislation offers us an opportunity to reinvest in our libraries in a significant way to bring about a stronger equity throughout our community, and to make sure that we have libraries in our future.

鈥淟ibraries are not just bricks and mortar, but they are anchors within the community that need a little bit of structure in order to provide the service we deliver,鈥� Wong said.

Throughout the pandemic, communities relied on libraries. And libraries found ways to deliver while other public facilities shut their doors.

A good example of how libraries got creative during COVID-19 is in the work of a consortium of 34 public libraries in rural upstate New York.

鈥淒uring COVID-19 it was sometimes the only place in town to get things,鈥� said consortium director Sara Dallas of the branches. Hamilton County libraries provided access to materials and Wi-Fi 24/7, so their parking lots were filled, even to the streets across the library.

鈥淭he Indian Lake Public Library provided takeaway crafts to kids curbside so families would have activities to do with their children,鈥� said Dallas, 鈥渁nd often these libraries were the only places with notaries and access to printing documents curbside.鈥�

California libraries distributed Chromebooks, laptops and hotspots to students during the pandemic, Wong said.

鈥淲e’ve seen firsthand that so many in our community were lined up or parked in (library) parking lots, using the Wi Fi because they didn’t have digital access at home,鈥� said Wong of libraries in her state of California.

Some projects have had to be put on hold because California libraries need close to $5 billion in infrastructure funds, she added.

At the Copper Queen in Bisbee, Arizona, Macoviak said last year鈥檚 Halloween party was called off because of the pandemic. This year he hopes the event will go on.

Teens have already started holding monthly planning meetings.

To Macoviak, the event and all the enthusiasm and planning surrounding it underscores the importance of libraries and the need to keep them functioning.

鈥淭hey create their own program, and take ownership of their library,鈥� said Macoviak. 鈥淚t just shows the utter importance of having these spaces available.鈥�

Libraries, he continued, 鈥渁re safe. They’re open to everybody. No matter who you are, how much money you make, or what your status is.鈥�