Massachusetts and other U.S. states are challenging the Trump administration’s plans to recover $2 billion in pandemic-era education funds intended to improve school facilities and address students’ overall health.
The Bay State stands to lose $106 million in school funding grants, according to the lawsuit, filed Thursday by 15 states and Washington, D.C.
The Education Department’s “drastic and abrupt change in position triggered chaos for state education departments … and local school districts,” the lawsuit states. Key services for students stand to be disbanded and employees and contractors will continue to be laid off if the ESSER funding isn’t restored.
“As we work to recover from learning loss and financial hardship caused by the pandemic, our schools rely on federal funding to serve their most vulnerable students, including our homeless youth,” Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell said in a statement, adding, “I will continue fighting to protect Massachusetts residents.”
In a letter announcing the move, Education Secretary Linda McMahon said funds were intended to be spent by September 2024 and previously granted extensions were reconsidered. Districts had “ample time” to spend the funds, she said.
In Massachusetts, Springfield was hit the hardest, losing over $47 million in ESSER funds followed by New Bedford, at $15 million.
Massachusetts leaders were sounding off on the Trump administration’s plans to recover $2 billion in pandemic-era education funding, including more than $100 million from Massachusetts, with Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., calling it “casual cruelty.”
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Top congressional Democrat Rep. Katherine Clark told NBC10 Boston last week that Revere, which she represents, stood to lose $4.5 million that would have gone to rebuilding an elementary school, and that a court challenge was the likely way they would restore the funding.