Colorado Politics

Colorado schools to receive $66 million in federal funding after Trump administration lifts freeze

Trump Education Grant Freeze

The Trump administration announced Friday that it would lift a hold on nearly $5 billion in grant funding for education, with Colorado now expected to receive $66 million.

The funding was tied to a lawsuit filed earlier this month by 16 states, including Colorado, that blocked the release of about $7 billion in grant funding for afterschool and summer programs, teacher salaries, language courses, and professional development.

On July 18, the Trump administration released $1.3 billion in frozen funds; the amount released Friday is the last portion of those grant dollars.

Colorado’s share of $5 billion is about $66 million. The total amount released for Colorado is around $80 million.

According to a statement from the governor’s office, the freeze came after Colorado schools finalized their budgets.

“School districts rely on this funding, derived from federal funds, to improve educator effectiveness and ensure students have access to safe and enriching academic settings all year long, support migratory children and English language learners, and without it, face serious financial pressure in the coming school year,” Gov. Jared Polis said.

The governor said Friday that while he was “thrilled this funding has been returned to our students, this uncertainty created significant chaos for families and schools with the school year only weeks away.”

The freeze was tied to a review by the U.S. Department of Education to ensure those grants are “by the president’s priorities and the Department’s statutory responsibilities.”

While the department didn’t specify what those priorities are, the Trump administration has aimed to fund diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, labeling them discriminatory, wasteful, and antithetical to American values.

The Polis administration, after meeting with school officials, stated that the freeze could have led to schools having to downsize or eliminate out-of-school programs, or eliminate programs designed to assist immigrant students who had recently arrived in the United States.

The Associated Press reported that the administration lifted the freeze after 10 Republican senators sent a letter imploring the administration to allow frozen education money to be sent to states.

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