Tim Balch: Shapiro fights to save PA school funding
Earlier this month, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro (D) joined a multistate lawsuit against the Trump administration over its decision to freeze over $230 million in federal funding owed to Pennsylvania schools. The lawsuit emphasizes the unlawfulness of withholding federal funding for Pennsylvania education already approved by Congress. The withheld funding would cover teacher development and training, before- and after-school programs, literacy, and job readiness programs. (The lawsuit seeks to release a total of more than $6 billion in frozen education funding throughout the country.)
The lawsuit is co-led by 25 other states and seeks to ensure the federal government makes good on its promise to deliver promised funding for Pennsylvania.
Shapiro was passionate in his crusade to get the White House to release the funding, saying, “I’m suing to force the Trump administration to deliver the money our students and schools were promised and are owed – critical funds that school districts rely on to meet their budgets, train high-quality teachers, provide afterschool programs for kids, and so much more.”
Typically, congressional funds are available July 1 so that state and local agencies can plan for their upcoming school year accordingly. However, it was announced by Secretary of Education Linda McMahon that the money would be withheld, with no particular reason given.
This is not the first time Shapiro has had to go to bat for state funding held-hostage: Back in April, he sued President Donald Trump after his administration moved to cut half a billion in public health funding for Pennsylvania at a time when the state was under an alert for measles and the avian flu. Shapiro’s efforts helped secure over $2 billion in overall allocated funding.
The lawsuit asserts that the president and his administration have no legal right to freeze funding that has already been approved by Congress. The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 states that the president must report any and all budgetary withholdings for Congressional review. Furthermore, a Supreme Court ruling in 1975 stipulates that only Congress, not the president, has the authority to determine federal expenditures.
On July 18, at the insistence of numerous Republican senators, the Office of Management and Budget agreed to release $1.3 billion in previously withheld grant money. “We share your concern about taxpayer money going to fund radical left-wing programs,” the senators wrote to the OMB. “However, we do not believe that is happening with these funds.”
While it’s encouraging to hear that some Republican senators were able to convince the Trump administration to release already allocated funds for education, it’s still deeply concerning to know that it took some late-game political reassurance in order to achieve that goal. How can funding for teacher training and afterschool programs for underprivileged communities be considered radical? Is weakening our country’s educational infrastructure seen as some kind of political win? Underfunding hurts all kids, regardless of political affiliation.
The frozen funding in question was part of a congressional budget signed by Trump himself earlier this year. Did he and his administration forget that obligation? It calls to mind the president’s reputation of alleged nonpayment to his former employees. He must still think that running the country is akin to running one of his failed businesses.
At the same time, it’s encouraging to know that Shapiro is devoted to taking Trump to task whenever he overreaches in this way. “If anyone tries to hurt students here in Pennsylvania, they’ll have to go through me,” Shapiro said in a statement earlier this week. This is certainly the governing fervor needed to combat a president like Trump who feels he can repeatedly abdicate his executive duties with impunity.
Tim Balch is a copywriter in Lansdale.
