The Education Department has released $73 million for K-12 schools across Wisconsin as a result of the Trump administration’s decision on Friday to unfreeze federal education funding, the Wisconsin State Journal reports.
The move potentially avoids cuts that state officials had warned would trigger layoffs and the shuttering of educational programs.
Since July 1, an estimated $72.6 million — or 11.5% — of the state’s total federal K-12 funding has been withheld. A portion of that money supports educational programs for migrant children and English language learners.
On July 14, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul joined a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s decision, which it called “unconstitutional, unlawful, and arbitrary.”
It also outlined the costs of the withheld funds for Wisconsin’s nearly 56,000 children learning English as a second language — 5.6% of the state’s total K-12 public school population — and the nearly 34,000 adult learners across Wisconsin technical colleges.
The Department of Education said Friday that it would start sending funds — totaling nearly $6.2 billion nationwide — to states this week.
Wisconsin’s budget, passed July 3, did not include an increase in general state aid for K-12 schools but did raise special education funding by $500 million and overall school spending by $1.4 billion — mainly through increased property taxes districts could levy under higher revenue limits.
Joe Gothard, superintendent of the Madison Metropolitan School District, released the following statement in response to the news:
“On behalf of the Madison Metropolitan School District, we are relieved that the U.S. Department of Education has released the remaining $5.5 billion in funds authorized under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The release of these funds allow us to continue to provide critical programs and services, including after school care and wraparound services, that many of our families and students rely on.
“We are also grateful to those who advocated for these funds to be distributed,” Gothard said. “Their dedication to supporting public education benefits our children and strengthens our communities and our future.”
