Category: Federal Government Actions

20 States Sue White House over Immigration Restrictions for Head Start (July 24, 2025)

On July 21, 2025 twenty states and the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, challenging the administration’s decision earlier this month to restrict publicly funded programs — including those related to education — based on immigration status.

The lawsuit, led by New York, argues that the restrictions to previously inclusive programs like Head Start will hurt low-income families and lead to the ”collapse of some of the nation’s most vital public programs.”

Seeking to block the changes in the short and long term, the states allege the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) and three other federal agencies did not follow the required rulemaking process in issuing new immigration verification requirements. The lawsuit alleges that the policy changes will impact not only undocumented immigrants, but also people holding legal status, such as temporary workers, exchange visitors and those with student visas. The suit was filed in federal district court in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island.

The lawsuit follows an existing lawsuit over the Trump administration’s actions vis-a-vis Head Start to include “this new attack on Head Start.” That April 2025 ACLU-led lawsuit challenged the administration’s moves to gut Head Start by shuttering half of the regional Office of Head Start offices and laying off much of the federal offices’ staff. Plaintiffs in that lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington state, included parent groups and the Head Start associations of Washington, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

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OMB Releases Summer & Afterschool Funds, But too Late for Many (July 20, 2025)

On July 18, 2025, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will now release the federal funding for after-school and summer programs that districts and states expected to begin accessing July 1 but had been frozen by the OMB. The $1.3 billion for 21st Century Community Learning Centers was under review by OMB to ensure the funding aligned with Trump administration priorities and allegations that funds have been grossly abused to promote a radical leftwing DEI agenda.

Sadly, the delay already caused cancellations and other disruptions to summer and school-year student services. In fact, the chaos and harm caused by the delay resulted in summer learning programs abruptly shutting down and a large number of afterschool programs canceling plans to open in the fall as the uncertainty caused those programs to fall behind in hiring, outreach, contracting and other work.

Still under OMB review is about $5.6 billion in other K-12 funds, including programs for English learners, professional development, student academic supports, migrant services and adult education. OMB did not provide a time frame for the review or release of those funds.

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Letter from Former Sp. Ed. Officials Urges Congress to Keep Special Ed. with USDE (July 16, 2025)

On July 15, 2025, a letter signed by a dozen federal special education leaders from Republican and Democratic presidential administrations since the 1960s was sent to Congress urging legislators to reject any efforts to move oversight of special education services out of the U.S. Department of Education (USDE). The letter also asked Congress to reject President Donald Trump’s plan to combine into a block grant certain funds under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in fiscal year 2026.

The letter, sent to leaders of the House and Senate education appropriations subcommittees, follows Monday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing the Education Department to continue downsizing while legal challenges play out in the lower courts. That ruling means the USDE can move forward with its reduction in force of nearly half its workforce, including those in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS).

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DOL to Begin Management of CTE Programs (July 16, 2025)

On July 15, 2025, it was announced that career and technical education (CTE) is among workforce development programs to be jointly administered by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the U.S. Department of Education (USDE). According to the announcement, the management of key federal workforce development programs will begin shifting from the USDE to the DOL under an interagency agreement signed in May.

As per the agreement, adult education and family literacy programs under Title II of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and career and technical education programs under the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act will be managed by the DOL alongside USDE staff. The announcement was made the day after the U.S. Supreme Court stayed an injunction in McMahon v. New York, granting the USDE the ability to move forward with a sweeping reduction in force. That decision meant the workforce development interagency agreement between the USDE the DOL could move forward.

For more form K-12 Dive click here.

PA Joins States in Suing Trump Administration over Frozen K-12 Funds (July 15, 2025)

On July 14th, 24 states and the District of Columbia sued President Donald Trump, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) and the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for withholding over $6 billion in federal education funding for the upcoming school year. A statement by one of the plaintiffs called the withholding of funds “illegal” and “unjustified” and said it has “thrown schools nationwide into chaos.”

The states had expected to have access to the congressionally approved fiscal year 2025 funds on July 1st. States then planned to disburse the funds to local school districts and subgrantees. Programs at risk from the withholding of funds include English learner services, academic supports, migrant student assistance, after-school programming, adult education and professional development. The plaintiffs aver that the “abrupt freeze is wreaking similar havoc on key teacher training programs as well as programs that make school more accessible to children with special learning needs, such as English language learners.” Plaintiffs also claim the withholding of nearly $6.9 billion is “contrary to law, arbitrary and capricious, and unconstitutional.”

Plaintiffs include Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai’i, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.

Governor Josh Shapiro filed suit on Pennsylvania’s behalf.

For more from K-12 Dive click here.