By MICHAEL CRIMMINS
Glasgow News 1
Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell signed a letter advocating for educational funds to be released.
The U.S. Department of Education recently froze $6.8 billion in federal funding to state school districts that were already appropriated by Congress, which includes $96 million for Kentucky. Based on prior reporting, Barren County Schools announced that around $1.25 million is being withheld, in Glasgow Independent Schools’ case that number is $500,000 and Caverna’s is around $100,000.
On July 16, 10 Republican Senators including McConnell sent a letter to the director of Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought requesting that his office “faithfully implement the Fiscal Year 2025 Full-Year Continuing Resolution Act,” including the release of educational funds that states anticipated receiving on July 1, 2025.
“The decision to withhold this funding is contrary to President Trump’s goal of returning K-12 education to the states,” the letter stated. “This funding goes directly to states and local school districts, where local leaders decide how this funding is spent, because as we know, local communities know how to best serve students and families. Withholding this funding denies states and communities the opportunity to pursue localized initiatives to support students and their families.”
“We share your concern about taxpayer money going to fund radical left-wing programs. However, we do not believe that is happening with these funds. These funds go to support programs that enjoy longstanding, bipartisan support like after-school and summer programs that provide learning and enrichment opportunities for school aged children which also enables their parents to work and contribute to local economies [and] also go to support adult learners,” the letter continued.
The letter is also signed by Senators Shelley Moore Capito, Susan M. Collins, John Boozman, Katie Boyd Britt, Deb Fischer, John Hoeven, Jim Justice, Lisa Murkowski and M. Michael Rounds.
“We should be making educational opportunities easier for these students, not harder,” the letter stated. “We encourage you to reverse your decision and release this Congressionally-approved funding to states.”
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear also voiced his support for the funding release by joining a lawsuit challenging the administration.
