The Trump administration announced the funding freeze on June 30, a day before the money was supposed to be sent to school districts in both New England and across the nation. It was another move toward the White House’s goal to dismantle the Education Department, as President Trump argues that classrooms are teaching left-wing ideology. In Massachusetts, the freeze translated into $108 million withheld, leaving many districts scrambling to ensure they could still provide services during the summer months and the upcoming fall semester, with some cancelling summer programs entirely.
In addition to training educators during a nationwide teacher shortage crisis and providing summer activities during a period when many families struggle with increasingly expensive childcare, the money would have supported some of New England’s neediest students this summer, including students who are low-income, immigrant, and English learners.
Ray Hart, executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools, a nationwide association of urban districts that includes Boston, said in a statement they’re “relieved” about the administration releasing the funds “for the benefit of schoolchildren throughout our nation.”
In Rhode Island, education commissioner Angélica Infante-Green said, “On behalf of Rhode Island’s students, families, and teachers,” it is “relieved to hear that the congressionally approved education funding is set to be released.”
The Education Department “will begin dispersing funds to states next week,” said Madi Biedermann, a spokesperson for the department, in a statement Friday. Biedermann said the Office of Management and Budget completed its review of the grants and directed the Education Department to release the funding.
The move comes after the District of Columbia and 24 states, including Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Maine, sued the Trump administration, arguing the White House cannot refuse to disperse funding already allocated by Congress.
“It is impossible for states to effectively budget for an upcoming school year … when the president takes the football away from us, like Lucy in a Charlie Brown cartoon,” said Peter Neronha, Rhode Island attorney general, at a press conference announcing the lawsuit earlier this month.
A coalition of school districts and teachers’ unions, including the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals, filed a second lawsuit against the administration.
Susan Collins, a Republican senator from Maine, and Ed Markey, a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, were among the politicians who criticized the freeze and demanded the administration release the money.
“Every day that goes by without this education funding hurts our students, educators, and communities,” said Pedro Martinez, Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department for Elementary and Secondary Education, in a statement Thursday. “We are still recovering from pandemic learning loss, and these federal funds are directly related to improving student academic achievement.”
In early July, Governor Maura Healey said in a statement that districts would be forced to lay off staff, delay or cancel programs, and disrupt learning.
“Our schools were promised this funding, and the Trump Administration needs to deliver it,” Healey said.
In a survey by the School Superintendents Association, about three-quarters said they would cut academic programs, and half said they would lay off teachers if funding was not restored. In a statement, the executive director of the association, David Schuler, said he was “pleased” with the news of the funding being released.
Some programs saw an immediate, negative impact following the freeze, including the Migrant Education Program, which provides additional education to the children of migratory farm and fishery workers whose jobs require families to move across the state and country due to seasonal employment.
The program, which has operated in Massachusetts since 1966, aims to address the toll on children’s education caused by the frequent moves, as students transfer between different school districts or miss school altogether to work alongside their parents.
In Springfield, 9-year-old Ery Perez Gutierrez last summer focused on sharpening his academic skills at Boland Elementary School. This summer, Ery, a US-born citizen whose Guatemalan mother previously worked in tobacco fields across three states, won’t get the chance to learn science lessons or meet new friends.
Ery is among hundreds of children in Massachusetts spending the summer at home because of the funding freeze.
President Trump had proposed cutting the Migrant Education Program altogether in the next fiscal budget, saying the programs are expensive, haven’t been proven to be effective, and serve immigrants who aren’t in the country legally. The program focuses on families who move due to their employment, regardless of immigration status. While some working the jobs don’t have legal immigration status, many hold visas designed for seasonal and agricultural workers, or are US citizens.
Last year, the grant served 438 students for summer programs statewide, said Emily Hoffman, director of the program in Massachusetts.
The loss of the program at Boland Elementary is “heartbreaking” and a “huge step backwards,” as students are going without much-needed services, said Lisa Bakowski, the school’s principal, who oversaw the program for the past three summers.
Bakowski said the children enrolled in the program are among the most vulnerable in the community. Their parents work in the fields all day and often don’t speak English.
“It sickens me that it’s become a political issue when it really should never have been,” Bakowski said. “It’s about the betterment of humanity and being able to work to assist and provide for pockets of our community that need it.”
Other programs targeted in the freeze weren’t immediately impacted. The largest grant frozen, known as Title II, Part A, is meant for teacher training and professional development, including on teaching strategies, curriculum, and behavioral health.
In previous years, Boston Public Schools used the funding to provide additional support for the district’s recruitment efforts and educator preparation, including through an intensive 12-month program that prepares aspiring teachers to enter the classroom at no cost to them.
Following the freeze announcement, BPS “identified temporary one-time funding to maintain these efforts, which will continue in Fiscal Year 2026 despite the funding freeze with the hopes that the funding will eventually be available,” a spokesperson said in a statement Thursday.
Massachusetts districts received $27 million in fiscal year 2025 for teacher training, with BPS receiving about $2.6 million.
Marcela Rodrigues can be reached at marcela.rodrigues@globe.com.