The Brief
The Florida PTA is suing the U.S. Department of Education, saying the feds are holding up millions of dollars that schools relying on.
The Trump administration said they wanted to ensure the money was being spent "in accordance with the President’s priorities."
Statewide, schools are waiting on $396 million. Orange County alone is missing out on $20 million.
ORLANDO, Fla. - The Florida PTA and Florida Education Association joined several other school districts, and unions across the country to file a lawsuit demanding that money be released.
What does the lawsuit claim?
What we know
The lawsuit says, the federal Office of Management and Budget was required to dole out the funds by April 14, yet throughout the Spring, remained "noticeably silent."
The Florida PTA says their best-case scenario would be for the Department of Education to release the funds without them having to work through the entire court process with their lawsuit.
"Our goal is to get those funds released so that we can get back to the business of educating children with the necessary stability," said Jude Bruno, Acting President of the Florida PTA.
Bruno says, kids are the ones who stand the most to lose here.
"Whether it is enrichment, whether it after school tutoring, whether it intervention, whether it even offering remedial courses or even helping them with college application, particularly our seniors. These funds all directly benefit students."
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What happened with the money?
Dig deeper
This funding has been provided to schools for years on end. The exact amount is typically finalized months ahead of the school year.
The day before schools’ budget year started, the Department of Education emailed state education agencies saying they wouldn’t get their funding until after a review ensuring that money was spent "in accordance with the President’s priorities."
The lawsuit points out that the Department provided no timeline for if or when the funds would be released.
Blow after blow
What they're saying
Bruno says in Florida, this problem is compounded by a loss of funding for traditional public education.
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That’s been worsening as enrollment declines, and as money gets diverted to charter schools and private school voucher programs.
The Source
The information in this article comes from reporting done by FOX 35's Marie Edinger.
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