As communities around the country prepared fireworks displays to celebrate Independence Day, the Trump administration and Congress set fire to the federal programs families rely on to ensure their children are safe, healthy and building the skills, competencies and connections that equip them for success in life.
On June 30, the Trump Administration abruptly announced that it was withholding almost $7 billion in federal education funding already allocated by Congress to support a wide range of critical K-12 and adult education programs including the 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant program to states to support afterschool and summer learning programs in schools and communities.
Here is a breakdown of the programs included in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) that are most impacted by the freeze:
The abrupt withholding of Title IV-B funds (21st Century Community Learning Centers) is having an immediate impact on community programs, as Jodi Grant, executive director of the Afterschool Alliance, explained in a PBS News Hour interview:
“…this is just devastating. This is 1.4 million kids in 10,000 sites across the country. And I want to be clear, this funding was due on July 1, so we have summer programs that are also in danger of shutting down right now. There are places where some of the summer camps, summer learning programs won’t be able to continue. And then we are just hearing from providers across the country that are extremely alarmed that they may have to close their doors before school opens.”
And when schools reopen in a month or two, students will likely find fewer supports that enable them to attend school regularly or participate in the enrichment and extracurricular opportunities that engage their passions and interests. Title IV-A, the Student Support and Academic Enrichment Program, is designed to improve academic achievement by increasing the capacity of state agencies and local districts to support the “whole child” through well-rounded educational opportunities (for example, music and arts and college and career counseling), support for health and safety (for example, prevention of bullying, violence and substance abuse, Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and trauma-informed practices), and support for effective use of technology (for example, infrastructure, access and digital learning strategies).
Titles IV-A and IV-B grant recipients received the first blows from the Trump administration in the withholding of currently appropriated FY25 funding. But the Trump administration’s proposed FY26 budget, via a combination of funding cuts and block grants, would impact nearly every aspect of Title IV, 21st Century Schools.
The cuts and changes to higher education funding are equally disturbing, as are the continued threats to AmeriCorps programs that train and support volunteers working in schools, afterschool and summer learning programs and service and conservation corps. Chalkbeat and New America outline broader provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that will limit families’ eligibility for Medicaid and childcare tax credits, reduce school funding for nutrition and health programs, threaten school attendance because of immigration enforcement escalations and change the rules for Pell grants and private school tax credits in ways that should give every American pause if they understand how this matrix of public funding undergirds the things they take for granted in their lives.
Advocacy efforts are under way and court challenges are expected. But if there was ever a time for educators and champions in education, youth development and postsecondary transitions to come together, it is now. What good does it do to embrace the idea of anywhere/anytime/never-too-late learning if such critical public funding is being eliminated? If public support for the organizations and systems that ensure equitable access to the people and places creating year-round, community-embedded success pathways is being derailed? And what good does it do to advocate to protect just these learning opportunities when President Trump’s new broad-ranging tax and domestic policy will inordinately impact lower income families?
Now more than ever we need to come together to present a strong, unified case as to why young people need not just the component parts in a learning ecosystem but the vibrant, collective whole.
Since our time running the President’s Crime Prevention Council 30 years ago, we have worked to promote a unifying “whole child/whole community” positive youth development approach across what we somewhat aspirationally dubbed “the allied youth fields.” In part, this was in response to advocacy approaches that tended to focus on single aspects of legislation, narrow age groups or single-issue areas, creating an unintentional competition among the vast array of programs and services for children, youth and families. But what do you do when the whole ecosystem is under assault? Use every opportunity you have to acknowledge the connection of your specific issue or solution to the whole.
We return to Jodi Grant, who in her afterschool advocacy has long been a champion of the broader ecosystem. In another recent appearance — this one on MSNBC’s The Weekend — when asked to speak to the vast range of cuts and the future of public education, her responses emphasized the connections.
“I think what’s really sad is it’s happening on all fronts. So you [the host] just talked about all of the things that were just passed in the budget bill, and we’re talking about an additional 7 billion dollars that has literally been frozen that is going to directly impact students in our schools all across America….We’re really worried about what this means for our children and our country.
I think all of this – it just compounds – and it’s going to really be a struggle for our schools and for all of the resources that support our schools – whether it’s community-based organizations, museums, parks and recs and others.”
As an advocate not only for afterschool programming but for children, youth and families, Jodi’s example inspires us to see an interconnected learning ecosystem that must be protected. Take up the charge.
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In her columns, Karen Pittman is exploring the research behind the statement, “When Youth Thrive, We All Thrive.”
Merita Irby, co-founder of the Forum for Youth Investment, is a partner at Knowledge to Power Catalysts.
