by Administration officials announced Friday that the White House will release $5.5 billion in blocked education payments, ending a tumultuous story that had left school districts frantically preparing for the start of the school year.
Ten Senate Republicans signed a rare public letter pushing the White House to release the funding, part of the mounting bipartisan pressure on the Trump administration.
A day before the deadline, the Trump administration abruptly withheld the funds, which were part of almost $7 billion in congressionally approved education spending that was scheduled to be disbursed on July 1.
More than $2 billion of the funds went toward teacher recruitment and training, especially in low-income communities that frequently struggle to attract the best educators. Additionally, it contained funding for music and art instruction in low-income districts, additional support for English language learners, and assistance for migrant farmworker children.
Next week, the Department of Education stated, it will start distributing the funds to states.
The administration announced that it was conducting a study on June 30 and subsequently reported that it had discovered cases of egregious misuse of federal funds to support a radical left-wing agenda.
However, the administration soon encountered increasing opposition, including two federal court proceedings. The White House declared last week that $1.3 billion that had been withheld for after-school programs would be released.
The story is still evolving. For updates, return later.
