Overview:
The Trump administration has agreed to unfreeze more than $1 billion in 21st Century Community Learning Centers funding for after-school and summer programs—following an 18-day delay that triggered bipartisan backlash, multiple lawsuits, and widespread disruption for districts and families nationwide.
The Trump administration will unfreeze more than $1 billion for after-school and summer programming, according to a source within the administration. This comes after funding was paused on July 1, and across the country, school districts and state officials have been on the official.
According to ABC News, “The programmatic review is over for 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC),” the senior administration official said. “Funds will be released to the states. Guardrails have been put in place to ensure these funds are not used in violation of Executive Orders.”
For many advocates, the unfreezing of the 21st CCLC funds signals renewed momentum for after-school programs, but it also raises questions about the ongoing oversight and future stability of federal education dollars.
In this fiscal year, Congress appropriated over $1.329 billion for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers—the central federal funding stream for after-school and summer learning programs, which supports more than 10,000 local programs serving over 1 million children nationwide.
Despite being relieved by this decision, the Afterschool Alliance issued a statement on the harm caused by the 18-day delay.
“While this news is a welcome relief and will help afterschool and summer programs and the parents and young people they serve, the Administration’s delay in disbursing these funds which were signed into law in mid-March caused massive chaos and harm, with summer learning programs abruptly shutting down and a large number of afterschool programs cancelling plans to open in the fall,” read the statement. “Those programs have now fallen behind on hiring, outreach, contracting, and other work needed to fulfill their essential mission.”
Lawsuits over the withholding of funds
Just days ago, 10 Republican senators asked the OMB Director, Russ Vought, to reverse the decision already appropriated by Congress.
Ringleader Republican Sen. Shelley More Capito, the West Virginia Republican said lifting the pause will help students in her state and across the country thrive.
“21st Century Community Learning Centers offer important services that many West Virginians rely on,” Moore Capito wrote in a statement. “This program supports states in providing quality after-school and summer learning programs for students while enabling their parents to work and contribute to local economies. We should be supporting education opportunities like these.”
On Twitter, Moore Capito said the senators’ rare rebuke of Trump’s education policies prompted the actions by OMB.
“@RussVought45 just informed me that the @usedgov is releasing crucial funds to states that support after school and summer education programs,” Capito wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Simultaneously, this week, 24 Democratic states and D.C. sued the Trump administration, arguing that it violated the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, which requires Congress to consider and review executive branch withholdings of budget authority.
“With no rhyme or reason, the Trump Administration abruptly froze billions of dollars in education funding just weeks before the start of the school year,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said at a press conference Monday.
Shortly after the funding freeze was initially announced, two Democratic lawmakers from Arizona, Sen. Mark Kelly and Rep. Greg Stanton, urged the administration to release the funds as soon as possible, noting their state’s early start to the school year.
“This freeze is putting Arizona school districts in an impossible financial situation, as school districts have already adopted their annual budgets and signed contracts for the upcoming school year,” the lawmakers wrote.
Additionally, more than 100 Democratic lawmakers wrote to the administration requesting that the funds be released immediately.
Earlier this spring, the Trump administration announced plans to halt $1 billion in grant funding for school mental health programs.
While the after-school funding is released, there is still roughly $6 billion in federal funds for programs such as English language acquisition, educator development, and adult education, among others, not disbursed to school districts.
