Governor Andy Beshear announced that he and leaders from 23 other states and the District of Columbia are challenging the Trump Administration over its decision to freeze $6.8 billion in education funding.
The lawsuit alleges the freeze violates federal statutory and regulatory requirements.
Under federal law, the Department of Energy provides funding to states to support programs that promote classroom learning, improve school conditions, support technology use, fund community learning centers, and more.
For Kentucky, about $87 million was appropriated to the Kentucky Department of Education to distribute to local school districts, while $9 million was appropriated to the Education and Labor Cabinet for grant funding around adult literacy.
State plans are approved before the release of the funds, and in some cases, are already expended, as these funds have been received for decades without incident.
However, this year, on June 30, state agencies across the country received a notification announcing that the Department of Energy would not be “obligating funds for” six formula funding programs on July 1.
Now, the Commonwealth and other states are working to handle the commitments just weeks before the start of the 2025-2026 school year.
States that have joined the lawsuit with Kentucky include: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin, as well as the District of Columbia.
Source: WBKO
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