School districts will be forced to cancel after-school programming, services for English learners and professional development as a result of $6.2 billion in federal K-12 grant money that the U.S. Department of Education is withholding from states and districts, according to education leaders who spoke at a press conference Tuesday.

The funding that has already been appropriated by Congress and that was supposed to be available to states and districts on Tuesday, July 1, is for programs including migrant education, English learner services, academic enrichment, before- and after-school services and professional development. 

It appears federal funding for Title I to support students from low-income communities and for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act for students with disabilities is being distributed as expected.

States were notified on Monday by the Education Department that “decisions have not yet been made concerning submissions and awards for this upcoming academic year,” according to a blog by the Learning Policy Institute written by Michael DiNapoli Jr., director of federal policy, and Michael Griffith, senior research fellow.

Usually, the Education Department allows state education agencies to draw down their funds by July 1. The date is key so states and districts can plan their spending for the upcoming school year. 

Any funds not allocated by the Education Department to states would expire and return to the U.S. Department of Treasury, according to the Learning Policy Institute. 

The funds in limbo include:

• Title II-A for professional development: $2.2 billion.
• Title IV-A for student support and academic enrichment: $1.4 billion.
• Title IV-B for 21st Century Community Learning Centers:  $1.3 billion.
• Title III-A for English-learner services:  $890 million.
• Title I-C for migrant education: $375 million.

The five programs total nearly $6.2 billion, or about 14.4% of the total Education Department budget for FY 2024. Funding is compared to FY 2024, because for FY 2025, Congress approved a continuing resolution to maintain the FY 2024 spending levels for the current fiscal year.

According to the Learning Policy Institute, states and territories that have the most to lose if they can't access funds from those five buckets of title funding include the District of Columbia (20.9% in total K-12 federal funding), Vermont (20.8%), Northern Mariana Islands (20.1%), American Samoa (19.1%), and Delaware (18.4%). Two large states, California and Texas, would have federal K-12 funding reduced by 16.5% and 16.1%, respectively.

The state with the least to lose is New Mexico, at 10.2%.

It's unclear how long the Education Department's review of these grant programs will take. The Education Department referred questions to the Office of Management and Budget, which did not respond to a request for information.

The Trump administration has promised to remove waste and duplicative programs from the federal government and has frozen other federal K-12 allocations in the past few months. But some education advocates are questioning the legality of holding back or "impounding" money for education that has already been approved by Congress and President Donald Trump.

'Lifelines for millions of students'

Margarita Machado-Casas, president of the National Association for Bilingual Education, said the inability to access the Title III-A funds is having "real and immediate harm" as school systems lay off staff, cancel contracts and halt services.

"These are not new funds," Machado-Casas said. "English language learners cannot wait. Districts cannot wait. Teachers cannot wait. These are not abstract numbers. These are programs, staff positions and lifelines for millions of students who deserve equitable access to education."

A joint Immigrant Connections and National Newcomer Network survey of school district leaders found that among the activities at risk due to the federal funding delay are staffing and professional development; after-school care and family engagement events; and instructional supplies and curriculum materials.

Ana DeGenna, superintendent of California's Oxnard School District, said delaying or cutting Title III funding would have "real consequences" across the state, including the loss of some after-school and summer English learning programs, extra tutoring support for students, and curriculum designed to meet the needs of English learners.

"These are not luxuries in our schools. These are lifelines, especially in our most under-resourced districts,"DeGenna said.

For her school district, leaders may have to consider using general funds to fill in budgeting gaps. That's money that's already stretched thin, DeGenna said.

Jodi Grant, executive director of the Afterschool Alliance, called the move to withhold funds for after-school services "devastating."

The 21st Century Community Learning Centers program, which is the main federal funding stream for after-school and summer learning programs, supports more than 10,000 local programs serving nearly 1.4 million children nationwide, according to the Afterschool Alliance.

"Parents across the country are counting on these programs to support programming for their kids this summer, this fall and throughout the next school year," said Grant, adding that "every hour that they're withheld means that programs are scrambling, and many are going to have to close." 

"Withholding these funds will cause lasting harm to students and families, and to our education system, our future workforce, and our economy," said Grant, in a statement Tuesday. 

"If these funds are not released very soon, we will quickly see more children and youth unsupervised and at risk, more academic failures, more hungry kids, more chronic absenteeism, higher dropout rates, more parents forced out of their jobs, and a less STEM-ready and successful workforce as our child care crisis worsens dramatically," Grant said.

While some education groups have mentioned the potential for litigation challenging the decision to withhold the funds, school districts can't wait on a resolution from a lengthy court challenge, said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., in a statement Tuesday.

"Every day that this funding is held up is a day that school districts are forced to worry about whether they’ll have to cut back on after school programs or lay off teachers instead of worrying about how to make sure our kids can succeed,” Murray said.