成人X站

The Trump administration has accused states and schools of using federal education grants earmarked for immigrants鈥� children and low-income students to help fund 鈥渁 radical leftwing agenda.鈥�

The administration this week withheld more than $6 billion intended for after-school and summer programs, English language instruction, adult literacy and more, saying it would review the grants to ensure they align with President Donald Trump鈥檚 priorities. The freeze sent schools and summer camp providers scrambling to determine whether they can still provide programs like day camps this summer or after-hours child care this fall.

On Wednesday, the Office of Management and Budget said an initial review showed schools used some of the money to support immigrants in the country illegally or promote LGBTQ+ inclusion. The administration said it hadn’t made any final decisions about whether to withhold or release individual grants.

鈥淢any of these grant programs have been grossly misused to subsidize a radical leftwing agenda,鈥� the Office of Management and Budget said in a statement.

It said New York schools had used money for English language instruction to promote organizations that advocate for immigrants in the country illegally. Washington state used the money to direct immigrants without legal status toward scholarships the Trump administration says were 鈥渋ntended for American students.鈥� Grant funds also were used for a seminar on 鈥渜ueer resistance in the arts,鈥� the office said.

Officials from New York and Washington state didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Advocates for low-income and immigrant children connected the grant freeze to the Trump administration’s larger crackdown on immigrants. Two of the five federal programs put on hold were appropriated by Congress to help support English proficiency of students still learning the language and migrant children who move with their parents to follow agricultural and other jobs.

School districts use the $890 million earmarked for English learners in a wide range of purposes, from training teachers’ aides who work with English learners, to running summer schools designed for them, to hiring family liaisons who speak the parents鈥� native languages. The $375 million appropriated for migrant education is often used to hire dedicated teachers to travel close to where students live.

By 鈥渃herrypicking extreme examples,鈥� the administration is seeking to conflate all students learning English with people who are in the country illegally, said Amaya Garcia, who directs education research at New America, a left-leaning think tank in Washington, D.C.

In reality, the majority of English learners in public schools were born in the United States, according to data from the Migration Policy Institute.

鈥淭he way they鈥檙e framing it is that we鈥檙e using this money for undocumented students and families,” said Margarita Machado-Casas, president of the National Association of Bilingual Educators. “It鈥檚 a distraction. A distraction from what鈥檚 actually happening: that 5.3 million English learners who speak lots of different languages, not just Spanish, will suffer.鈥�

Even if the students lack legal status, states may not deny public education to children in the country illegally under a 1982 Supreme Court decision known as Plyler v. Doe. Conservative politicians in states such as Oklahoma, Texas and Tennessee have pursued policies that question whether immigrants without legal residency should have the right to a public education, raising the possibility of challenges to that landmark ruling.

Meanwhile, states and school districts are still trying to understand what it will mean for their students and their staff if these funds never arrive.

In Oregon, eliminating grants for English learners and migrant students would “undermine the state鈥檚 efforts to increase academic outcomes for multilingual students, promote multilingualism, close opportunity gaps and provide targeted support to mobile and vulnerable student groups,鈥� said Liz Merah, spokeswoman for the state’s Department of Education.

____

Associated Press writer Collin Binkley contributed from Washington.

_____

The Associated Press鈥� education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP鈥檚 for working with philanthropies, a of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.