Arizona joins lawsuit to stop Trump administration from blocking billions in funding for schools
The Trump administration's education funding cuts have spurred Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes to join another multistate lawsuit.
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PHOENIX — Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is once again joining a multistate lawsuit combating actions taken by the Trump administration.
Mayes and 14 other attorneys general sued Thursday to prevent the Department of Education from cutting off state access to millions of dollars meant to help schools recover from COVID-related issues.
Arizona is now part of 12 multistate lawsuits against the Trump administration.
Why is Kris Mayes joining lawsuit against education funding cuts?
The latest lawsuit was filed in response to a March 28 announcement from the Department of Education. Federal authorities warned schools they would lose access to grants worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
The news contradicted previous promises that the funding would be accessible to states through March 2026.
It’s devastating news for programs that support low-income and unhoused students, Mayes said.
“The Trump administration is engaged in a coordinated attack on students, families and the entire education system,” Mayes said in a news release. “First, they try to dismantle the Department of Education, then they pull the rug out from under Arizona schools by cutting off funds for public and private schools alike.”
What do attorneys general suing Trump over lost access to funds hope to achieve?
The cuts include funds meant to help students and educators recover from long-lasting issues related to the COVID pandemic.
Without access to the funds, there will be a massive budget gap for local school districts and state education departments, she added.
“These cuts will hit rural Arizona especially hard, where many schools have relied on these federal dollars to keep teachers in classrooms and students on track,” Mayes said. “The Trump administration’s reckless chaos and destruction will only hurt the kids who need help the most.”
The lawsuit alleges that the Department of Education’s decision to cut off state action to the funds violates the Administrative Procedure Act. The attorneys general hope to win a preliminary and permanent court order preventing the funding freeze so the states can continue using the grant money to support students.
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Comments
28 Comments
Same ones cheering on the higher prices and authoritarianism
There’s a fatal flaw in your plan — school kids don’t bribe politicians. Defense contractors do.
The Republicans are reasonably transparent.
They just passed a $4.7 billion dollar tax cut for the wealthy and the corps.
As we are seeing, the capital markets are not willing to loan limitless amounts of money to finance tax cuts.
So we have a $250-$300 billion dollar per year tariff hike on consumers to help pay for the income tax cut for the rich. Cut a bunch of money for the schools. It’s not like 4th graders can hire lobbyists. Borrow the rest.