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Time of India
11-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Why Vermont schools face a $26 million loss as US funding for English learners and adult education disappears
Why Vermont schools face major losses as US funding for English learners and adult education disappears. (AI Image) The sudden halt of more than $6 billion in federal education funding nationwide is sending shockwaves through school districts and adult learning centres, with Vermont among the hardest hit. The funding freeze by the Trump administration, which affects crucial grants supporting after-school programmes, summer activities, and English language instruction, has left schools scrambling to adjust budgets and cut vital services. More than $26 million in federal funds earmarked for Vermont was abruptly withheld by the US Department of Education just hours before the money was due to be dispersed. This unexpected pause has left school officials and adult education providers uncertain about the future, with many warning that the cuts will disproportionately affect the most vulnerable students and adult learners across the state, as reported by VTDigger. Funding freeze hits essential programs Six federal grant programmes have been put on hold nationwide, including Title IIA and Title IIIA grants that support teacher professional development and English learner services. In Vermont, these grants have long sustained nearly 100 after-school and summer programmes benefiting more than 10,000 students, alongside adult learning services offering high school diplomas, GEDs, and English language classes, according to Senator Bernie Sanders' office, as reported by VTDigger. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like An engineer reveals: One simple trick to get internet without a subscription Techno Mag Learn More Undo The funding freeze has created a significant budget gap for many districts. For example, Winooski School District, a high-poverty district, faces a $700,000 shortfall. Sarah Haven, the district's director of finance and operations, told VTDigger that the district had already signed contracts for staff salaries through the 2025-26 school year, primarily relying on these federal grants for funding. "The hardest thing about what's happened here is that this decision came after we had done a lot of financial planning, and we're caught really off guard," Michael Eppolito, Winooski's director of curriculum and learning, said, as quoted by VTDigger. Impact on vulnerable students and adult learners Eppolito warned that the cuts will affect the most vulnerable students immediately, forcing districts to trim programmes considered non-essential. He cited the potential reduction of digital tools supporting math and English language arts instruction, as reported by VTDigger. Other districts, such as Essex Westford and Hardwood Unified Union, have also reported major budget hits and the need to pause professional development programmes. Adult education centres, which serve nearly 1,500 Vermonters annually, are also deeply affected. Tara Brooks, head of VT Adult Learning, estimated a $500,000 loss that could lead to staff cuts and increased wait lists for English classes and workforce development programmes. "There's no way around it," she told VTDigger. "We already have wait lists for a lot of our bigger locations... it's only going to increase if we have to reduce staff. " Uncertainty and political fallout The Vermont Agency of Education has yet to receive any communication from federal officials regarding the status of the funding. The agency is coordinating with state leaders and Congress to explore next steps, a spokesperson told VTDigger. Senator Sanders condemned the funding pause in a letter to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and OMB Director Russell Vought, calling it an "illegal and unconstitutional decision" and warning of widespread negative impacts on students and educators nationwide, as reported by VTDigger. Despite these demands, no response has been received. While some organisations remain hopeful the funds will be restored, others warn that continuing without them is unsustainable. Catherine Kalkstein of Central VT Adult Education said they are currently using reserve funds but cannot maintain that approach long term, as quoted by VTDigger. TOI Education is on WhatsApp now. Follow us here . Ready to navigate global policies? Secure your overseas future. Get expert guidance now!
Spectator
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Spectator
Is South Korea's firebrand president up to the job?
Much akin to Britain on 4 July last year, South Korea is now veering leftwards. Seoul only had a protracted two-and-a-half, and not fourteen, years of conservative rule by a leader who declared martial law on a cold winter evening last December. But at a time when security in East Asia is increasingly precarious, the election of Lee Jae-myung as South Korea's fourteenth president does not bode well for the future if the firebrand's past statements are anything to go by. For a man who had ambitions to be as 'successful as Bernie Sanders' – a comparison which is hardly a point of pride – it was third time lucky. His failed presidential bids in 2017 and 2022 are now confined to the history books. The South Korean population voted for change after six months of polarising protests in support of and against Lee's infamous predecessor, Yoon Suk Yeol. These were triggered by his abortive declaration of martial law on 3 December. This election was overshadowed by that December day, without which there would have been no vote.
Spectator
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Spectator
Is South Korea's new firebrand president up to the job?
Much akin to Britain on 4 July last year, South Korea is now veering leftwards. Seoul only had a protracted two-and-a-half, and not fourteen, years of conservative rule by a leader who declared martial law on a cold winter evening last December. But at a time when security in East Asia is increasingly precarious, the election of Lee Jae-myung as South Korea's fourteenth president does not bode well for the future if the firebrand's past statements are anything to go by. For a man who had ambitions to be as 'successful as Bernie Sanders' – a comparison which is hardly a point of pride – it was third time lucky. His failed presidential bids in 2017 and 2022 are now confined to the history books. The South Korean population voted for change after six months of polarising protests in support of and against Lee's infamous predecessor, Yoon Suk Yeol. These were triggered by his abortive declaration of martial law on 3 December. This election was overshadowed by that December day, without which there would have been no vote.
New York Post
24-05-2025
- Health
- New York Post
Republicans aren't coming CLOSE to cutting Medicaid as much as America actually needs
It's a sign of how cock-eyed the Washington debate has gotten that Republicans are nervous about the slight slowdown in Medicaid-spending growth in the 'Big Beautiful Bill.' If anything, they're not cutting Medicaid anywhere near as much as they should. As the nearby chart shows, Medicaid outlays have positively skyrocketed these last 20 years: The feds spent $160 billion in fiscal year 2003; $591 billion in 2023 — over 3½ times as much. State-level spending, meanwhile, rose from $108 billion to $280 billion — still a huge rise, but far less drastic. What's basically gone on? Democrats steadily pushing toward universal health coverage at taxpayer expense, with Republicans sometimes pausing the march. (It's Bernie Sanders' 'Medicare for all' plan, except using the program originally intended to cover the poor, not the one designed for the elderly.) In the process, Medicaid's grown from covering the poor to covering the near-poor and even the not-really-poor-at-all — in the process displacing private insurance more than it's actually expanding the share of the population that's covered. (That displacement has been sped up by the way the ObamaCare law and countless other progressive moves have made the private insurance market ever-more dysfunctional.) Jack Forbes / NY Post Design Also added in: illegal immigants, as well as legal ones who aren't supposed to become public charges. All in a program so poorly designed that the only two major audits done in recent years both suggested that a full quarter of the spending is improper — whether on 'beneficiaries' who don't actually qualify, to 'providers' who don't, or in a truly vast amount of outright, criminal fraud. Dems don't want to discuss any of these ugly details; instead, they fall back on treating any opposition to their drive as 'kicking people off health insurance.' Hence their endless claims that the BBB 'will deprive 13.7 million poor and vulnerable Americans of health insurance.' In fact, the bill's extremely modest reforms (eventually) do things like deny coverage to illegal immigrants, reduce federal subsidies for states to give Medicaid to people above the poverty line, require more frequent eligibility checks and impose a 'work requirement' of just 80 hours a month on able-bodied recipients. What's wrong with insisting that the able-bodied work to receive public charity? Or cracking down on how states like New York and California openly use Medicaid accounting scams to grab extra billions a year from the feds? All too many Republicans flinch from trying to make that case; a few even grandstand by copying Democrats' dishonest arguments. And so, as the Cato Institute's Dominik Lett notes, Medicaid has been the fastest-growing part of the federal budget this past decade because its 'funding scheme actively rewards overspending, resulting in programmatic bloat, wasted taxpayer dollars, and fraud.' It costs the taxpayers more than does national defense. The House-passed 'Big Beautiful Bill' barely begins to change Medicaid's course; as the Senate takes up the measure, cross your fingers that it'll do more to rein in this madness — not less.
