The following article was originally published in the Ohio Capital Journal and published on News5Cleveland.com under a content-sharing agreement.
School districts in Ohio and across the country will now be receiving billions of dollars that were being withheld by the Trump administration, funds local public education workers and supporters said are critically needed as the new school year approaches.
The Trump administration halted distribution of $6.8 billion in funds allocated by Congress in March, though $1.4 billion was unfrozen for one of the U.S. Department of Education’s grant programs earlier this month. On Friday afternoon, the White House reportedly announced it will release the rest of the funds due to schools.
The news comes after Ohio school districts, pro-public education organizations and hundreds of individuals signed on to a letter on July 21 urging state and congressional leaders to help release federal funds.
Led by the coalition Honesty for Ohio Education, the letter was directed at Attorney General Dave Yost, the U.S. Department of Education and Ohio’s congressional delegation, expressing “deep concern” over the freezing of federal funding for the state’s public schools.
The funds for Ohio amount to about $185 million for the 2024 fiscal year, according to Honesty for Ohio Education, the absence of which the group said has been “causing widespread disruption and panic to district planning and school operations.”
“This funding is not hypothetical – they are federal dollars already allocated by Congress,” said Dr. Christina Collins, executive director of Honesty for Ohio Education, in a statement. “The withholding of these necessary funds harms children, educators and school communities every day it is delayed, undermining educational progress.”
The federal monies can be used for school districts with low-income families, after-school programs and other educational services, to provide students with “significant opportunity to receive a fair, equitable and high-quality education, and to close educational achievement gaps,” according to the Ohio Department of Education & Workforce website.
“Ohio schools rely on these federal Title funds to support critical services and programs for students,” the letter from the public school supporters stated. “The continued delay in releasing these funds has created uncertainty, disrupted district planning and jeopardized the academic and social supports that many of our students depend on.”
The money is allocated based on “accountability systems to identify and support schools with academically struggling students” and the funds must be used “to improve student outcomes, including academic achievement,” according to the state education department.
The groups wrote in their letter that the funds “are essential to ensuring equitable access to education for all students, especially those with the greatest need.”
Cleveland Heights-University Heights and Shaker Heights school districts both signed on to the letter, along with the Shaker Heights Teachers Association, retired members of the Ohio Education Association and the Ashland County Community Academy.
Organizations such as the Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Ohio, the Lake County NAACP and the Ohio Council of Churches also joined in on the letter.
The districts, groups and individuals asked for specific things of each entity to whom they sent the letter. They called on Yost to “take all legal and administrative steps necessary to secure the immediate release of these funds,” and asked Ohio’s members of Congress to “publicly and forcefully advocate for the prompt distribution of these federal dollars to our school districts.”
Of the U.S. Department of Education, the letter asked for a partnership with state and federal officials “to ensure these funds are delivered swiftly and equitably, as intended by law.”
“Ohio’s children cannot afford to be caught in political or bureaucratic limbo,” the letter read. “The state must act now to honor its obligations and ensure that every child has the resources they need to learn, grow and thrive.”
Yost’s office did not respond to a request for comment on the letter.
