Logo of the Maine Department of Education in the Cross Office Building in Augusta. Feb. 25, 2025. Photo: Jim Neuger
The federal government withheld millions in education funding from Maine and other states for a month. However, officials say that most of it has not been reinstated yet, despite news that the administration of President Donald Trump unfroze the funds.
Last month, the Trump administration announced it was temporarily blocking the release of more than $5 billion in K-12 grant funds nationwide. For Maine, that meant $27 million for the next state fiscal year, according to the Maine Department of Education.
The frozen funding impacts a range of programs that support student academics, English learners, immigrant students and teacher training. It was supposed to be available July 1, but it wasn’t until July 18 that the U.S. Department of Education announced that it would release some of the funds followed by notification on July 25 that the remainder would be unfrozen.
The department said it got confirmation that $6.5 million would be released but is still waiting on the majority of funding — which Congress has already approved — to be made available as schools grow concerned about their budgets for next year.
The total frozen funding includes about $27.6 million for six different programs, the department said. The largest chunk of it was more than $10 million in funding under what is known as Title II of the Higher Education Act of 1956, which outlines areas of federal support for education. These grants support teacher training, recruitment and preparation to support effective instruction and reduce class sizes.
More than $6.5 million each was withheld from two Title IV programs focused on academic enrichment and student literacy programs that improve school conditions and enhance technology and digital literacy in nearly 200 Maine school districts, as well as community learning centers that offer after school programs. That portion slated for community learning centers is the funding that has now been released, according to the department.
Finally, the state is also still waiting on $1.6 million in federal funding for adult education, $1 million in Title III funds to support English language learners and almost $1 million in Title I funds, which support migrant education, according to the Maine Department of Education.
“The uncertainty of funding has been extremely difficult for school leaders, as they began to consider their budgets for the upcoming school year in early July without the promise of these funds,” said department spokesperson Chloe Teboe.
Maine leaders speak out against the frozen funding
On July 17, Gov. Janet Mills joined several other governors in urging Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to release the frozen funding.
“By withholding these education funds, the president and his administration are abandoning their responsibility to our students and harming families across our state,” Mills said in her letter.
Maine also joined 16 other states in a lawsuit that demanded the immediate release of these funds, which had been appropriated by Congress and should not have been withheld, the state education department said. U.S. Sen. Susan Collins and nine other Republican senators sent a letter to Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought emphasizing that the funding was being used for “programs that enjoy longstanding, bipartisan support.”
“We share your concern about taxpayer money going to fund radical left-wing programs,” the senators wrote. “However, we do not believe that is happening with these funds.”
On July 18, the federal education department announced that it would be releasing part of the Title IV funds, and a week later, the department made an announcement that all frozen funding was expected to be reinstated starting this week.
As of Tuesday, the Maine DOE has only received notice of one program being funded and is “still awaiting the [notifications] for the other programs,” Teboe said.
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