Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) is urging President Trump to restore federal funding for 21st Century Community Learning Centers, which provides funding for before- and after-school programs, including those in his district.
The administration is withholding more than $6 billion in federal funds for after-school and summer programs that was included in the government funding bill signed by Trump on March 15. Officials say it’s part of a review to ensure the programs align with White House priorities.
Trump also proposed cutting the funding in fiscal 2026, which begins Oct. 1.
Lawler wrote that the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program “is deeply aligned with your Administration’s goals to return power to education authorities, instead of Washington, DC bureaucrats. State Education Agencies are fully responsible for administering the grant, providing each community with the opportunity to distribute funding where it is most needed.”
“Further, 21st Century Community Learning Centers are a perfect example of what happens when we take the federal government out of education – outcomes are better. Students that participate in these programs have been found to have better attendance records, are more engaged in their classes, and see improvements in their academic performance, including in reading and math,” he added.
According to the Afterschool Alliance, the learning centers support 10,000 local programs that serve almost 1.4 million children nationwide. It was allocated more than $1.3 billion for fiscal 2025.
States participating in the programs get funds based on their shares of Title I low-income students.
A spokesperson for the White House’s Office of Management and Budget said the freeze “is an ongoing programmatic review of education funding” and no decisions have yet been made.
“Initial findings show that many of these grant programs have been grossly misused to subsidize a radical leftwing agenda. In one case, NY public schools used English Language Acquisition funds to promote illegal immigrant advocacy organizations. In another, Washington state used funds to direct illegal immigrants towards scholarships intended for American students. In yet another, School Improvement funds were used to conduct a seminar on ‘queer resistance in the arts,’” they added.
According to a May 2025 study by the Afterschool Alliance, 4 in 5 Republicans surveyed said they support greater investments in after-school programs, and 8 and 10 Republicans said it’s an “absolute necessity.”
“Afterschool and summer learning programs are an American success story. The Trump Administration’s decision to withhold FY25 afterschool funding is a stunning betrayal,” the Afterschool Alliance wrote in a statement.
“Withholding these funds will cause lasting harm to students and families, and to our education system, our future workforce, and our economy. If these funds are not released very soon, we will quickly see more children and youth unsupervised and at risk, more academic failures, more hungry kids, more chronic absenteeism, higher dropout rates, more parents forced out of their jobs, and a less STEM-ready and successful workforce as our child care crisis worsens dramatically,” the alliance continued.
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