‘Significant cuts' possible after Trump administration withholds $29 million from R.I. education
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The US Department of Education
Massachusetts had more than $100 million withheld, and
'We don't know what 'under review' means,' Infante-Green said. 'This is really concerning for all of us. ... Our districts depend on these dollars.'
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The withheld funds represent about 17 percent of Rhode Island's federal money for K-12 education, according to Congressman Seth Magaziner's office.
The news sent superintendents and community organizations scrambling. Since the money was expected to be disbursed on July 1, it was already accounted for in school budgets for the upcoming year. No timeline has been announced for the completion of the review.
While federal education officials did not explain their reasoning in its notice to states, the Office of Management and Budget said in a statement to the Globe that the funds were withheld after finding some were 'grossly misused to subsidize a radical leftwing agenda,' including 'illegal immigrant advocacy.'
The statement gave examples in New York and Washington state. A spokesperson did not respond to a question about whether the Trump administration believed any funding in Rhode Island had been used inappropriately.
The withheld funds include money for out-of-school learning such as after-school and summer programs, services for students who are learning English, professional development for teachers, academic enrichment, and adult education. (Funds for migrant education were also withheld, but Rhode Island does not receive any money from that program.)
Other federal funding, such as money for students with disabilities, was not affected.
Magaziner, a Democrat, scheduled a news conference for Wednesday with Infante-Green, Providence Mayor Brett Smiley, and the leaders of some of the programs that could lose funding.
One of them is the Providence After School Alliance, known as PASA, where students engage in after-school and summer learning, can get healthy meals and participate in music, sports and other activities.
PASA relies on the federal funds for half of its $2 million annual revenue, interim executive director Eric Gurna said. The grant that's being withheld, known as 21st Century Community Learning Centers, serves students in high-poverty, low-performing districts during non-school hours.
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'In after-school, it's a chance for them to continue their learning, but it's also a chance for them to be active and healthy,' Gurna said. 'They're getting to engage in the hands-on learning activities that they don't get during the school day.'
If the funding doesn't come through, 'at the very least, there will have to be significant cuts,' said Gurna, who just started at PASA last month. He said programming for this summer is funded, so the potential cuts would come at the start of the school year.
'There are programs that are fully funded by 21st Century that will certainly close,' Gurna said.
While foundations and private donors such as corporations also give money, those grants are often for special programming, Gurna said, which wouldn't be possible without the staff who are paid with the federal funds.
'The public funding provides the infrastructure that the rest of it hangs on,' Gurna said. 'There's no way, even in the best of times, that the private sector is going to balance this out.'
Infante-Green said if the money isn't released, there could be major budget cuts, including layoffs. She controls the Providence public schools under a state takeover of the district. Providence has more than 7,000 multilingual learners, and data shows that students who exit the program — meaning they have become proficient in English —
'If it comes down to it,' she said, the state would participate in a lawsuit over the funding. 'We're ready to do that. We have to get this money for Rhode Island. We really rely on this money.'
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Infante-Green said education commissioners from across the country, in both blue and red states, met last week to discuss the situation.
'This is a big deal,' said Infante-Green, who noted that the funds are used for payroll in school districts. 'Even a two-month or three-month delay, that has an impact.'
Public education has faced a series of uncertainties since Trump took office, though courts have temporarily halted some of his plans, including
Infante-Green said it's been difficult to lead the school system under the current circumstances, and compared it to the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic.
'The pandemic was hard, and this feels similar to that,' she said. 'It just feels very shaky to us.'
Steph Machado can be reached at
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