Trump administration releases $1B in funds for afterschool, summer programs

The Trump administration has lifted its blatantly illegal freeze of more than a billion dollars in afterschool and summer education funding, which it had said was being “grossly misused” to promote “a radical left-wing agenda.”

I wish I was making that up.

“Guardrails have been put in place to ensure these funds are not used in violation of Executive Orders,” a senior administration official told ABC News, without detailing either the “guardrails” or why they would be needed.

The funding, for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program, supports more than 10,000 local afterschool and summer programs serving 1.4 million children nationwide.

Congress appropriated $1.3 billion for the program this fiscal year.

“While I am glad to see the Trump administration complied with our demands to release this funding, it never should have been withheld in the first place,” U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said in a statement.

AFP staff writer Rebecca Barnabi wrote earlier this week that a coalition of 24 states and the District of Columbia had filed a lawsuit challenging the funding freeze, alleging that the freeze of congressionally mandated spending violates the U.S. Constitution and federal laws.

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ICYMI

• Twenty-four states, D.C. sue Trump for funding freeze of afterschool, summer programs

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Notably, Virginia was not a party to the suit, because our MAGA attorney general, Jason Miyares, declined to sign on.

The 21st Century Community Learning Centers program provides academic support, enrichment and child care for mostly low-income American families.

Miyares, who is running for re-election this fall, declined to sign on to a lawsuit to force the Trump administration to release federal dollars to help children from low-income families get academic support, and help their parents with child care.

“The truth of the matter is that these funds should never have been stalled,” U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said in a statement. “Holding back these investments put unnecessary strain on schools and families, jeopardizing critical support for children in need. Virginia’s kids deserve better.”

Virginia, across the board, deserves better.