Following pressure from Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) announced it will release $1.3 billion in previously withheld grant money to states for after-school programs.
A senior administration official told the Associated Press on Friday that a review of funds for 21st Century Community Learning Centers, which support after-school and summer programming, was complete and would be distributed to states.
This $1.3 billion is only a portion of about $6 billion in federal grants which was frozen by the Trump Administration in early July. According to the AP, the remaining ~$5 billion remains under review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)—the largest office within the Executive Branch. These funds are typically made available on or around July 1.
As the President’s efforts to downsize the Education Department fired back up on Monday with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to allow Trump to resume layoffs for nearly 1,400 DOE employees, two members of Nebraska’s congressional delegation sent letters to OMB Director Russell Vought urging him to unfreeze the funds.
President of the Nebraska State Teachers Association, the state’s largest teachers union, Tim Royers, told KLIN News that the combination of these frozen federal funds and personnel layoffs amounted to a “one-two devastating punch to public education.”
Representative Don Bacon (R-NE) | Courtesy: Brian Thorpe, House Creative Services
Republican Rep. Don Bacon (NE-02) wrote Vought on Tuesday, July 15, saying these funds are “essential resources” for Nebraska schools which “have already incorporated them into staffing plans and contractual obligations for the upcoming school year budget.”
“Delays in these awards place [schools] in the impossible position of revisiting hiring and programming decisions with little time to adjust—decisions that are foundational to academic success and student support,” Bacon wrote.
The long-time Congressman from Omaha—who recently announced he would not seek reelection in 2026—gave Vought examples of how these funds are used by schools districts and nonpublic school systems in the state. He said, for example, nonpublic Omaha schools utilize over $400,000 in Title II funding for professional development, Norfolk Public Schools uses $35,000 in Title III-A funding to help cover salaries for staff supporting English learners, and Scottsbluff Public Schools uses $78,244 in Title IV-A funding for technology, school climate and well-being, and school safety investments.
While those three funding categories remain frozen, Bacon said funding for 21st Century Community Learning Centers (Title IV-B) impacts 43 districts and 150 sites, for a total $7.5 million. Further, he said Lincoln Public Schools has “long relied on $1 million of these funds to support its summer and after-school enrichment efforts.”
“Altogether, this delay affects nearly $40 million in federal funding and touches every public school district and the majority of nonpublic schools in Nebraska,” said Bacon in his letter.
U.S. Senator Deb Fischer’s official portrait. Taken in Washington, DC on May 16, 2024. (Official U.S. Senate photo by Rebecca Hammel)
The next day, July 16, Vought received another letter urging the funds be delivered, signed by 10 Republican U.S. Senators. Among them was Nebraska Sen. Deb Fischer—who got her start in politics serving on the Valentine Rural High School Board of Education for 14 years. The letter called for all effected program funding to be unfrozen.
“The decision to withhold this funding is contrary to President Trump’s goal of returning K-12 education to the states… Withholding this funding denies states and communities the opportunity to pursue localized initiatives to support students and their families,” the letter said.
It continued, “We share your concern about taxpayer money going to fund radical left-wing programs. However, we do not believe that is happening with these funds. These funds go to support programs that enjoy longstanding, bipartisan support like after-school and summer programs that provide
learning and enrichment opportunities for school aged children which also enables their parents to work and contribute to local economies.”
“We encourage you to reverse your decision and release this Congressionally-approved funding to states,” the letter concluded.
Following DOE’s Friday decision to unfreeze about 21% of these funds, Fischer said in a statement, “I’m pleased OMB Director Vought followed through on our request to release these funds, which provide critical learning opportunities and support for Nebraska’s students and families.”
Despite the log jam being lifted for a portion of the funds already OK’d by Congress, school districts in Nebraska have already felt the pinch of uncertainty, with Royers saying an afterschool program in Valentine, Nebraska—Sen. Fischer’s hometown—had shut down after failing to get funding renewed.