North Carolina, other states sue over Trump education funding cuts

North Carolina is joining other states in a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration over more than $165 million in frozen education funds intended for nearly all of the state's school systems and charter schools and several nonprofit groups.

The administration has canceled billions of dollars in federal education grants nationwide since February. Several states have sued, but North Carolina had not yet done so when it comes to education funds.

North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson, who announced the state's role in the lawsuit Monday, said the cuts could result in the elimination of about 1,000 North Carolina education jobs.

Jackson and state education leaders discussed efforts Monday to save more than $165 million in federal funding that is being withheld from North Carolina's public schools by the Trump administration. North Carolina Community Colleges lost more than $17 million for adult literacy and workforce programs the same day, but that funding is not mentioned in Jackson's announcement.

The lawsuit, brought by about two dozen states and the District of Columbia, says that more than $6 billion in funding is being with withheld from schools nationwide.

"It was a three-sentence email [that] contained basically no detail, and simply said that, 'This money was going to be frozen until further notice,'" Jackson said. "Since then, they have been unwilling to answer our questions.

"If this is not addressed, the impacts will be severe and widespread."

A White House spokesperson didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. The federal Office of Management and Budget has previously cited issues with the way at least some grants were spent as the reason for the delay, while the office reviews the entire funding programs.

"This is an ongoing programmatic review of education funding," the office previously said in a statement. "Initial findings show that many of these grant programs have been grossly misused to subsidize a radical leftwing agenda" that helps unauthorized immigrant students, among other things.

The states said in their joint complaint that the withholding is unlawful because Congress appropriated funds for the programs. On Monday, state education leaders said the state was still required to implement and follow the federal laws that provide the associated funding

Mo Green, who leads the state Department of Public Instruction, said school districts may only have about three months, at most, of carryover funding to keep the programs going. He said the issue needs to be resolved swiftly. Schools will need to consider hiring freezes — Wake County has already instituted one  — or even layoffs, Green said.

About $68 million of the withheld money in North Carolina is for teacher training, and more than $30 million is on hold for before- and after-school programs, also known as the 21st Century Community Learning Centers. The Trump administration has said it wants to make sure that the money it has withheld aligns with the president's priorities.

In North Carolina, Jackson said public schools in Ashe, Hoke and Graham counties would be most affected by the federal education cuts.

"It will disproportionately impact our rural school districts," Jackson said.

The funding, which benefits all public and charter schools in the state, includes six grant funding programs in question that support teacher training, before-and-after school education programs in low-performing schools and enrichment programs.

Additionally, the funding cuts could impact several programs for migrant students, including English-language education for immigrant students, immigrant student and family support and special education services for migrant students. He also said it would result in higher class sizes for grades kindergarten through third grade.

Across the state, the money funds staff training, technology, instructional supplies and other items. But the most major expense is staffing  — 981 educators total — including teachers, mentors, tutors, guidance counselors, social workers, beginning teacher coordinators, limited English proficiency teachers and coordinators, among others.

Dozens of nonprofits, in addition to schools, receive the funding for before- and after-school programming for nearly 11,000 students at lower-performing schools. Those include the YMCA, Boys and Girls Clubs and smaller nonprofits.

North Carolina's Boys and Girls Clubs receive about $4.7 million for the programs, funding 209 full- and part-time staff serving about 2,500 children at 21 sites — all of which could go away without the funds, said Heather K. Brosz White, director of the NC Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs.

"If this critical funding were to go away, the impact would be devastating," Brosz White told WRAL News in an email. That would "directly affect the long-term success of our youth—and the families who rely on us for affordable, high-quality care. The stability and consistency this program provides are essential to keeping young people on track academically, emotionally, and socially. The continuation of this funding is not just important—it is essential for the well-being, safety, and success of the young people we are committed to serving."

Jackson spoke about how North Carolina found out about the federal education cuts.

"The Department of Education does not have the authority to now withhold those funds," he said. "Certainly not the night before they were set to arrive.

"We didn't get this email the day before. We got this email the night before, so we are taking them to court. And I am confident that we are going to prevail because I think the legal argument here is very straightforward."

The Trump administration has asked Congress to cut many of these funds and much more in future budgets. On Monday, Green said that's a challenge schools can plan ahead for but expressed frustration at the Trump administration's plans to withhold funding June 30, with schools having already hired some people with those funds. Year-round schools have already gone back into session for the 2025-26 school year.

"Now [we] find ourselves having to adjust on the fly, and that's not good for certainly educators, and it's horrible for our students," Green said.

More than 20 other states filed the lawsuit against the Trump administration. It includes the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia, as well as the governors of Pennsylvania and Kentucky.

"I appreciate that filing a lawsuit against a United States government is not an action one should take without considerable deliberation," Green said.

Last week, the Wake County Public School System implemented a 90-day hiring freeze for district office positions and for any vacant positions funded by federal grants that the Trump administration has paused.

The hiring freeze will affect central office staff and any vacant positions in teacher training, English language instruction, and student support and academic enrichment — if those positions were funded by the affected grants.

The Associated Press has contributed to this story.