Feds release $6.8 billion in frozen education grants

The U.S. Department of Education announced Friday afternoon that it had decided to “unfreeze” $6.8 billion in nationwide school grants, approved by Congress but held back at the direction of the Trump administration since June 30. Nearly $400 million allotted to Florida schools, with $9 million earmarked for Pinellas County, was held back just a day before the start of the Pinellas school district’s fiscal year, and a little more than a month before classes begin. 

Madi Biedermann, deputy assistant secretary for communications at the Department of Education, said that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) “has directed the Department to release all formula funds. The agency will begin dispersing funds to states next week.”

This was good news for the Pinellas County School Board, which engaged with community partners and lawmakers, and held a public forum Thursday to discuss moving forward without the federal money it had been counting. It had been earmarked for services such as teacher professional development and academic and enrichment support for students.

Technically, the funds are Title II, Title III, Title IV and Adult Education and Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education-based grants.

“The extraordinary interest from all corners of our community to support funding their schools, including by our elected officials, was powerful and yielded results,” School Board Chair Laura Hine said in a prepared statement. “We all need to keep it up.

“When Florida’s legislative session starts, we must let our elected state officials know how important school funding is. These are our tax dollars; we believe in our schools and want them to be funded properly.”

When the freeze was announced, the White House Office of Management and Budget said it was looking into instances of federal dollars being “grossly misused to subsidize a radical left-wing agenda.”

Ten Senate Republicans signed a public letter urging the White House to release the funds.

Catalyst writer Michael Connor contributed to this story.