Bonta sues feds over $939M promised to CA schools California Attorney General Rob Bonta is suing the Trump administration over what he is calling an unconstitutional, unlawful, and arbitrary decision to freeze funding for six longstanding programs administered by the U.S. Department of Education just weeks before the start of the school year.

In California, an estimated $939 million in federal education funding is frozen. Without this funding, many educational programs will shutter — already, ongoing summer learning programs have been left unfunded.

In filing a lawsuit July 14, Bonta is co-leading a coalition of 23 attorneys general and two states together with the attorneys general of Colorado, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. The attorneys general argue that the funding freeze violates federal funding statutes and regulations authorizing these critical programs and appropriating funds for them, violates federal statutes governing the federal budgeting process (including the Antideficiency Act and Impoundment Control Act), and violates the constitutional separation of powers doctrine and the Presentment Clause. They ask the court for declaratory and injunctive relief.

“With no rhyme or reason, the Trump administration abruptly froze billions of dollars in education funding just weeks before the start of the school year,” said Bonta, in a news release. “In doing so, it has threatened the existence of programs that provide critical after school and summer learning opportunities, that teach English to students, and that provide educational technology to our classrooms.

For decades, California and other states have used this funding to carry out a broad range of programs and services, including educational programs for migrant children and English learners; programs that promote effective classroom instruction, improve school conditions and the use of technology in the classroom; community learning centers that offer students a broad range of opportunities for academic and extracurricular enrichment; and adult education and workforce development efforts.

Pursuant to federal statutory and regulatory requirements, each year the Department of Education makes around 25 percent of the funds for these programs available to states on or about July 1 in order to permit state and local educational agencies to plan their budgets for the academic year ahead. However, this year, on June 30, state agencies across the country received a notification announcing that the Department of Education would not be “obligating funds for” six formula funding programs on July 1.

“Taken together with his other attacks on education, President Trump seems comfortable risking the academic success of a generation to further his own misguided political agenda,” Bonta said. “But as with so many of his other actions, this funding freeze is blatantly illegal, and we’re confident the court will agree.”

Declining enrollment is a critical national issue and one that will soon affect most California school districts. These declines will require districts to make tough choices around budgets and staffing. Join the Learning Policy Institute and Bellwether for a webinar featuring policy experts and practitioners who will discuss system-level strategies for districts facing declining enrollment in California.
“Redesigning Schools in an Era of Declining Enrollment: District Strategies” will be from 12-1 p.m. Aug. 13. Co-sponsored by ACSA and the California School Boards Association, the webinar will draw from LPI’s “Redesigning High School: 10 Features for Success” report and Bellwether’s Navigating Declining Enrollment Toolkit and share research-based approaches that can transform educational opportunities, even in the face of reduced resources and fewer students. The webinar will highlight the case of Anaheim Union High School District as it is redesigning its grades 7–12 school model in response to declining enrollment. Guided by the 10 features, the district created schools that center students, engage families, and involve the broader community.
Register for this webinar at learningpolicyinstitute.org/event/webinar-declining-enrollment-district-strategies.