Education Secretary Linda McMahon notified CT officials late Friday
byKeith M. Phaneuf
Updated
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Days after reclaiming $155 million in public health aid to Connecticut, President Donald J. Trump’s administration has frozen roughly $14 million in funds earmarked for academic and other programs in Connecticut’s school districts.
That $14 million includes approximately $9 million overseen by the state Department of Education, which then disburses funds to support various local programs. It also includes roughly $5 million already awarded to about 21 K-12 districts.
State education officials still were working early Monday to identify all frozen funds and affected school districts.
“We are disappointed by the U.S. Department of Education’s decision to reverse their previously approved extension for the use of … ESSER funds,” Gov. Ned Lamont said Monday. “These resources were designated to support the continued academic and mental health recovery of our students. The Connecticut State Department of Education is actively engaging with federal partners and following all available procedures to seek project-specific extensions. We remain committed to doing everything we can to ensure that our districts and students receive the support they were promised.”
Trump’s education secretary, Linda McMahon of Greenwich, notified states’ education administrators late Friday that their window to spend Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund [ESSER] dollars had closed immediately — with one major qualifier.
States can appeal to the Trump administration for an exception to spend more funds “on an individual-specific project basis.” In other words, the federal government will decide which projects have merit.
McMahon’s letter also offers no guidance or mentions specific criteria that would be used to evaluate future funding requests.
The U.S. Department of Education in February authorized Connecticut to expend ESSER dollars throughlate March 2026.
Congress enacted ESSERin 2020 and expanded it in 2021, a $190 million effort to address learning loss created by the coronavirus pandemic, while also helping financially strained districts bolster summer enrichment and after-school programs.
Connecticut received$1.7 billionacross three phases of the ESSER program, and most of that money has already been spent. The roughly $14 million frozen on Friday represents less than 1%.
But local education advocates warned Monday against underestimating the fiscal chaos the Trump administration’s funding freeze would create.
Nearly all municipal school boards have already submitted their budget requests for the fiscal year that starts July 1 to their local town council or finance board, said Fran Rabinowitz,executive director of the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents and a former superintendent in Bridgeport and Hamden.
And while roughly 21 districts were counting on specific relief awards that have been frozen, many more communities also rely on state assistance to fund tutoring and remedial assistance programs — which Connecticut was paying for with ESSER funds.
“This will cause significant upheaval in school districts,” Rabinowitz said. “They are going forward with the understanding these dollars are coming.”
“The clawback of funds by the U.S. Department of Education is an alarming move that will directly impact students, families, and educators — particularly those in Connecticut’s highest-need communities,” added Lisa Hammersley, executive director of the School and State Finance Project. “Students need stability and consistency to thrive in school and excel academically. This about-face from the department continues to upend that stability, undermines local budgeting and raises significant concerns about the future and availability of federal education funding.”
Lamont’s education commissioner, Charlene M. Russell-Tucker, notified school districts over the weekend, indicating that her department would seek more information Monday from federal officials.
“Please know that Connecticut will rigorously advocate for … each and every project that was previously approved,” she added.
Lamont expressed frustration last Thursdayupon learning that Trump had unilaterally reclaimed $149 million in federal aid previously awarded to Connecticut’s Department of Public Health and $6 million sent to the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.
Officials said the cuts would slow state and municipal efforts to identify new infectious strains, track and respond to outbreaks, enhance vaccination rates and to swiftly deliver life-saving treatments to at-risk infants.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tongpledged last week to fight health-related cuts and other reductions in state aid that the president has imposed without prior congressional action.
Lamont and leaders of the General Assembly’s Democratic majorityissued a joint statement Fridaypledging they would not wait until the summer or fall to consider supplanting some of the federal aid cut by Trump with state dollars.
Keith has spent most of his four decades as a reporter specializing in state government finances, analyzing such topics as income tax equity, waste in government and the complex funding systems behind Connecticut’s transportation and social services networks. He has been the state finances reporter at CT Mirror since it launched in 2010. Prior to joining CT Mirror Keith was State Capitol bureau chief for The Journal Inquirer of Manchester, a reporter for the Day of New London, and a former contributing writer to The New York Times. Keith is a graduate of and a former journalism instructor at the University of Connecticut.
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