PHOENIX — A portion of the more than $6 billion dollars in federal education funding that has been withheld since July 1 has been approved for release.
Some of the funds have now been released for after-school and summer programs. The rest remains frozen Arizona receives $24 million for after-school programs yearly.
According to the Associated Press, 10 Republican senators wrote a letter this week asking for the funds to be released.
The funds were being reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget. The remaining nearly $5 billion dollars that have not been released are still being reviewed.
This comes after Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes joined a multi-state lawsuit this week against the Trump administration as a result of the funding freeze.
Lawmakers weigh in on partial release of withheld education funding
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne released a statement praising the release of funds, saying the grants are “valuable” and programs would have been affected without those dollars. Horne said he anticipates the rest of the funding will be released soon.
“Once we have formal notification from the federal government and allocations to schools are calculated, we will work very hard to pass these funds through to the recipients,” Horne said in the Friday statement.
Arizona U.S. Congressman Greg Stanton also spoke out about the funding release, saying that the money will allow organizations like the Boys and Girls Club of the Valley to operate and serve children.
“I’m glad to see the Trump Administration heed my call and unfreeze federal funding for critical afterschool programs, like the Boys & Girls Clubs,” Stanton said in an announcement.
“But nearly $100 million in funding still remains frozen, putting Arizona school districts in an impossible financial situation right as the school year starts. These are dollars that Congress appropriated on a bipartisan basis, and they must be released immediately.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Funding for this journalism is made possible by the Arizona Local News Foundation.
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