Attorney General Tong has joined a coalition of 25 states suing the Trump Administration over its decision to freeze $6.8 billion in funding for six longstanding programs administered by the U.S. Department of Education, including over $53 million for Connecticut schools. Tong and the coalition are asking the court to declare the funding freeze unlawful—as courts have repeatedly done in other cases filed by Connecticut and other states—and to block any attempts to withhold or delay this funding.
“Trump and Linda McMahon are stealing from Connecticut schools to fund tax cuts for billionaires, and its our kids and our teachers who are paying the price,” Tong said. “We are talking about over $53 million already built into local school budgets in nearly every district in Connecticut for computers and technology, afterschool enrichment and field trips, social workers, English language instruction, teacher training, adult education, and more. We stopped Trump when he tried to defund Head Start, when he tried to defund disaster relief and energy assistance, when he tried to defund our police, cancer research, and our libraries. We are back in court yet again to make sure our schools and our kids get every penny that our tax dollars paid for.”
CEA President Kate Dias, CEA Secretary Gail Jorden, and AFT Connecticut Vice President Mary Yordan joined Tong at a news conference yesterday where he announced the lawsuit.
“We stand with the Attorney General in fighting back against the Trump administration’s reckless decision to withhold more than $6 billion in critical education funding,” said CEA President Kate Dias. “We will not stand by while this administration cuts funding for our most vulnerable students—playing politics with their futures. We urge the courts to stop this dangerous and deeply irresponsible move, and we call on leaders across the country to demand that these funds be restored immediately.”
“At a time when we’re making historic investments in our children and their future, it is shameful that President Trump does not share those same goals,” said Governor Ned Lamont. “One of the most important things we can do as a nation is to create more opportunities for children by funding k-12 education. As if kicking people off their health insurance, reducing funding to hospitals, and limiting food and nutrition wasn’t harmful enough, the Trump administration has reached a new low by withholding federal funds for after-school and other enrichment programs. While no state in the nation will be able to backfill these massive cuts, we have been doing our part to lift students up, reduce absenteeism through investments in the LEAP program, increasing support for special education, and more. We demand that this federal funding be restored and thank Attorney General Tong for his efforts.”
CEA President Kate Dias joined Attorney General Tong at a press conference yesterday where he announced he is suing the Trump Administration over its decision to freeze $6.8 billion in education funding.
For decades, Connecticut and other states have used funding under these programs to carry out a broad range of programs and services, including educational programs for English learners; programs that promote effective classroom instruction, improve school conditions and the use of technology in the classroom; community learning centers that offer students a broad range of opportunities for academic and extracurricular enrichment; and adult education and workforce development efforts.
Pursuant to federal statutory and regulatory requirements, each year the Department of Education makes around 25 percent of the funds for these programs available to states on or about July 1 in order to permit state and local educational agencies to plan their budgets for the academic year ahead. The states have complied with the funding conditions set forth under the law and have state plans that the Department of Education has already approved. The states have received these funds, without incident, for decades, including as recently as last year. However, this year, on June 30, state agencies across the country received a notification announcing that the Department of Education would not be “obligating funds for” six formula funding programs on July 1.
This funding freeze has immediately thrown into chaos plans for the upcoming academic year. Local education agencies have approved budgets, developed staffing plans, and signed contracts to provide vital educational services under these grants. Now, as a result of the Trump Administration’s actions, states find themselves without sufficient funding for these commitments, just weeks before the start of the 2025-2026 school year. Essential summer school and afterschool programs, which provide childcare to working parents of school-age children, are already being impacted. The abrupt freeze is also wreaking havoc on key teacher training programs as well as programs that make school more accessible to children with special learning needs, such as English learners.
Tong maintains that it is Congress, not the Executive Branch, that possesses the power of the purse. The Constitution does not afford the Executive Branch power to unilaterally refuse to spend appropriations that were passed by both houses of Congress and were signed into law.
Attorney General Tong joins the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Arizona, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania in filing the lawsuit.
