New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin today joined a coalition of 24 states in suing the Trump Administration over its unconstitutional, unlawful, and arbitrary decision to freeze billions of dollars in federal funding for states, including $158 million for New Jersey, for six longstanding programs administered by the U.S. Department of Education. Depriving states of this critical funding will cause many educational programs to shutter, and have already caused harm to ongoing summer learning programs that have been left unfunded because of the freeze.
In the lawsuit, the attorneys general argue that the funding freeze violates the federal funding statutes and regulations authorizing these critical programs and appropriating funds for them; violates federal statutes governing the federal budgeting process, including the Antideficiency Act and Impoundment Control Act; and violates the constitutional separation of powers doctrine. They ask the court for declaratory and injunctive relief.
“Freezing billions of dollars in critical education funding just ahead of the start of the school year isn’t just wrong and reckless. It is also flagrantly illegal,” said Attorney General Platkin. “Rather than working with us to support students, educators, and schools, the Trump Administration continues to harm our children and families by defunding afterschool care programs, teacher training programs, and programs for English learners and those with special needs. We are fighting back against this lawless and morally indefensible attempt to undermine our best-in-the-nation education system, and we won’t stop fighting until we restore this unlawfully frozen funding.”
For decades, New Jersey and other states have used funding under these programs to carry out a broad range of programs and services, including educational programs for students with special learning needs and English language learners; summer school and afterschool programs for students; programs that train teachers and promote effective classroom instruction; 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% 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 received these funds, without incident, for decades, including as recently as last year. However, on June 30 this year, state agencies across the country, including the New Jersey Department of Education, 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.
In today’s lawsuit, Attorney General Platkin and a coalition argue that the Trump Administration’s actions violate federal funding statutes, the Administrative Procedures Act, and the U.S. Constitution, including the separation of powers doctrine. They asked the Court to declare the funding freeze unlawful, as courts have repeatedly done in other multistate cases, and block any attempts to withhold or delay this essential funding.
Attorney General Platkin joins the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, the District of Columbia, and the Governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania in filing the lawsuit.
