Boston, MA – January 22: Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey announces her annual budget plan during a State House press conference. (Photo by Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
The Trump administration on Friday terminated $106 million in K-12 education grants for Massachusetts, the Healey administration said Tuesday, calling it an "illegal move."
In a press release, Gov. Maura Healey's office said the U.S. Department of Education notified all states at 5:03 p.m. Friday of its decision, effective at 5 p.m., to "end the federal Education Stabilization Fund liquidation period."
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Healey's office said the decision terminated more than $2 billion in grants across 41 states, and asserted that in February, "the Trump Administration had just reaffirmed that Massachusetts had until March 2026 to spend the funds."
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According to Healey's office, the funds were intended to address pandemic-related learning loss, support building upgrades to address security and improve air quality, and to support professional development for educators, including helping emergency teacher license holders stay employed in public schools.
In a letter Friday to state education officials, U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon wrote that "extending deadlines for COVID-related grants, which are in fact taxpayer funds, years after the COVID pandemic ended is not consistent with the Department's priorities and thus not a worthwhile exercise of its discretion."
"After careful review, the Department is modifying the liquidation period to end on March 28, 2025," McMahon wrote. "The Department has concluded that the further extension of the liquidation period for the aforementioned grants, already well past the period of performance, was not justified. You and your subrecipients have had ample time to liquidate obligations."
The governor's office included in its press release statements from top Democrats in the Legislature.
"The Trump administration pretends to champion education by claiming it wants to empower states, but in reality, it is actively sabotaging states' ability to support our most vulnerable students," House Speaker Ronald Mariano said. "Canceling funds that schools have already built into their budgets is reckless, and shows a blatant disregard for the needs of our students and schools."
Districts affected by the cuts primarily serve cities, and include Springfield ($47.3 million), New Bedford ($15.6 million), Fitchburg ($6.6 million), Everett ($4.9 million), and Revere ($4.6 million).
