Arlington, VA
CNN
—
Desperation crept into Sylvia’s voice as she rattled off all the ways her life would become more difficult if a free learning program that her son attends during the summer shuts its doors.
A single mother, Sylvia works as a janitor and is the sole breadwinner for her family which includes her 10-year-old as well as her ailing mother.
“I cannot sleep at night,” said Sylvia, who spoke to CNN through a translator as she picked up her son, Gabriel, at the end of a long shift. “Gabriel is asking, ‘Mom, why you are crying? Why are you crying, mom?’”
She has been crying, she said, because she knows that the glue that keeps it all together — a nonprofit program that allows her son to have a safe place to stay, warm meals and a chance to learn English — is being targeted by the Trump administration. She declined to give her last name, citing privacy concerns amid the current political climate.
Aspire Afterschool Learning, where Gabriel spends his days during the summer school break in Arlington, Virginia, is one of more than 10,000 summer and after-school programs across the country that has been pushed into a state of perilous uncertainty after the Department of Education abruptly paused the grant it depends on to keep things running.
The fund, called 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC), is a federal program that was among a huge swath of nearly $7 billion of education grants that the department suddenly froze this month, with little notice.
The halt came amid a review that alleged the money was being used to promote “leftwing” ideologies. It comes as the Trump administration is seeking to dismantle the Department of Education, with mass layoffs underway and severe funding cuts under consideration.
Much of the money goes towards programs that serve some of the US’ poorest children.
On Monday, some two dozen Democratic-led states sued the Department of Education in federal court to release the funds, which had already been approved by Congress and were supposed to have been disbursed to the states on July 1st.
But the squeeze is already forcing many summer programs to scramble to stay open, even as schools and educational schemes are bracing for deeper impacts in the fall.
The paused funding for K-12 programs included money for teacher education and recruitment, English language programs, student enrichment and nonprofit learning centers that partner with schools, among other initiatives.
They are delivered through grant programs like 21st CCLC, with state education agencies distributing the money to grantees, including school districts and nonprofits that run free enrichment programs or work with schools to put on programming throughout the year.
One day prior to the date the funds were to be released, the Department of Education instead sent a letter saying that money is not coming, pending a review.
“The Department will not be issuing Grant Award Notifications obligating funds for these programs on July 1 prior to completing that review,” it said. “The Department remains committed to ensuring taxpayer resources are spent in accordance with the President’s priorities and the Department’s statutory responsibilities.”
The impact of the freeze is already being felt as it has caused many programs to question whether they will be able to stay open this summer.
“It feels like we’re punishing a whole lot of students,” said Paula Fynboh, who runs Aspire, which provides programming throughout the year.
She is cobbling together money to keep the summer school running through student-run lemonade stands and other fundraising efforts. But if the money continues to be withheld come the fall, she will have to tell 25 families now in the program that their children will not be able to return.
Many nonprofits are facing similar odds. “They can try and keep their doors open an extra few days and extra few weeks and maybe if they’re lucky they have rainy day fund but you know that’s a Band-Aid that isn’t going to last forever,” said Jodi Grant, executive director of the Afterschool Alliance, a national nonprofit advocacy organization.
“If these funds are blocked, the fallout will be swift and devastating,” said Jim Clark, president and CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of America, the nation’s largest after-school youth program. Many sites are also in the midst of running their summer camps and programs, and nearly a fifth (17%) of the Boys and Girls Club network is funded by the 21st CCLC grant, according to the Afterschool Alliance.
Up to 926 Boys & Girls Club centers, serving more than 220,000 kids, could be forced to close if the funds are not released, Clark said. Many of them are from underserved communities, and “will lose access to essential supports like healthy meals, caring mentors, and safe spaces during the most vulnerable hours of the day,” he added.
Addie Nardi, who runs a Boys & Girls Club in a rural part of Maryland about 90 minutes from Washington, DC, said the sudden funding freeze this month felt like “a kick to the gut”— but the shock was “secondary, almost, to the concern of how we were going to be able to continue to serve these kids.”
If the funds don’t come through, the site will likely permanently close, leaving elementary students and their families without one of their only options for support in the area, Nardi said.
There is no timeline for when the Department of Education review will be completed and if the money will ever start up again.
The impetus for the pause came from the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which described it as part of an “ongoing programmatic review of education funding.”
In a statement, OMB raised concerns about how some of the funds may have been used by schools.
“Initial findings show that many of these grant programs have been grossly misused to subsidize a radical leftwing agenda. In one case, NY public schools used English Language Acquisition funds to promote illegal immigrant advocacy organizations. In another, Washington state used funds to direct illegal immigrants towards scholarships intended for American students. In yet another, School Improvement funds were used to conduct a seminar on ‘queer resistance in the arts.’”
OMB did not provide documentation about their claims when asked by CNN.
Grant, of Afterschool Alliance, says the move feels extreme.
“Nobody even knows what they’re reviewing,” Grant said, “If there’s a specific program that they’re concerned about, they should be investigating that program but not holding up funding for all of these other kids across the country.”
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers union, said the freeze of funds already approved by Congress for this summer is particularly damaging. The Department of Education’s move is “hurting children and creating chaos,” she said.
Beyond the immediate threat to summer schools vying to stay open now, school districts and nonprofit education programs are bracing for more hardship into the school year.
According to an analysis by the New America Foundation, a Washington, DC, think tank, school districts will lose an average of $220,289 if the funds continue to be withheld. Some stand to lose millions, with the poorest districts suffering the most.
“Districts serving high-poverty student populations (those where over 25 percent of children live in poverty) will lose over five times as much funding per pupil as low-poverty school districts (those where fewer than 10 percent of children live in poverty),” according to New America’s analysis. “The 100 school districts facing the biggest cuts on a per-pupil basis have an average child poverty rate of 24.4 percent, much higher than the national average of 15.3 percent.”
Many school districts work with outside organizations to use federal grants to run after-school care or offer academic support for children from low-income families.
Aspire in Virginia, for example, runs after-school programs at a community center and two local schools that serve many low-income families. Ninety-nine percent of Aspire’s students are from families of color, and more than 90% are living below the poverty line. Over three-quarters speak a language other than English at home.
Colorful posters line the walls at the community center where Aspire holds its programs, available to kids from 3rd to 8th grade. In one room, an arts and crafts project making masks was taking place, and in another, it was “pirate day” where teachers dressed as pirates were fielding questions.
Some students and former students who have come back as volunteers are serving snacks: On the day CNN visited, it was pineapples and blueberry muffins.
The program regularly wraps up and discreetly sends home any leftovers to families in the program who would otherwise go without food.
Kids who participate in the program earn points for academic and social achievements — and the difference it makes shows. “I feel, like, happy because I now, I know how to read,” shared Monserrat, a little girl from Bolivia who is entering 4th grade in the fall.
She joined Aspire a year ago, when her family moved to the US. She likes Aspire more than her regular school, she said, because she feels more competent and gets extra support.
April, a rising 4th grader, said that Aspire helped her with her English, and now, she even helps translate for her parents. (April and Monserrat’s parents asked that their last names not be used to protect their privacy.)
When asked for thoughts on their experiences at Aspire, the girls raised both arms high above their heads, with two enthusiastic thumbs-up, flashing wide smiles.
The states suing the Department of Education are asking the court to issue a preliminary injunction to unfreeze the funds immediately in at least some states.
Fynboh said she fears the day Aspire will have to close.
“Walking by an empty classroom every day is going to be hard,” said Fynboh. “We know these kids and we know their parents, their faces, their names, their stories, their gifts, their talents, and we know which ones are going to lose access to the program. And that’s just heartbreaking.”
