(The Center Square) — The Trump administration is pulling back millions of dollars in federal funding for new programs at New York City schools after state education department officials refused to restrict transgender students’ access to bathrooms and sports teams.
The U.S. Department of Education warned the city’s school district last week that it would strip $15 million in funding allocated by the Biden administration last year to create six magnet high schools across Manhattan and the Bronx unless it committed to eliminating transgender protections. The federal agency gave city education officials until Tuesday to comply with the demands.
“The department will not rubber-stamp civil rights compliance,” Education Department spokesperson Julie Hartman said in a statement. “These are public schools, funded by hardworking American families, and parents have every right to expect an excellent education — not ideological indoctrination masquerading as ‘inclusive policy.”
Last year, New York was awarded $30 million in funding through the Education Department’s Magnet Schools Assistance Program to convert six existing schools in the Bronx and Manhattan, including Esperanza Preparatory Academy, City College Academy of the Arts, and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis High School.
New York City Public Schools issued a statement saying it was “deeply disappointed” in the federal government’s decision to freeze the funding, which comes after the city was denied an extension to comply with the federal agency’s demands.
“Cutting this funding — which invests in specialized curricula, afterschool education and summer learning — harms not only the approximately 8,500 students this program currently benefits, but all of our students from underserved communities,” the statement said. “If the federal government pulls this funding, that means canceled courses and shrinking enrichment. That’s a consequence our city can’t afford and our students don’t deserve.”
A spokesperson for Mayor Eric Adams said Wednesday the city is weighing litigation to block the federal funding freeze “to safeguard these important resources for our children.”
“The federal government is threatening to defund our children’s education as a tool to change policies it doesn’t like,” Kayla Mamelak Altus said in a statement. “While Mayor Adams may not agree with every rule or policy, we will always stand up to protect critical resources for our city’s 1 million students.”
In February, President Donald Trump signed the “No Men in Women’s Sports” executive order which barred federal funding for educational institutions that allow males to compete on women’s or girls’ sports teams. Trump has vowed to cut off funding to states that don’t comply with the directive.
A federal judge in May halted the Trump administration’s decision to cancel more than $1 billion in K-12 education funding for more than a dozen states — but ruled that the Education Department can terminate some of funding after giving states notice.
The federal funding cuts announced this week also targeted school systems in Chicago and Fairfax County, Virginia, over similar issues, according to the Education Department, which accused all three districts of “blatantly discriminating against students based on race and sex.”
In Sept. 16 letters to the school districts, the Education Department’s acting assistant secretary for civil rights, Craig Trainor, said the practice of giving students access to locker rooms and restrooms corresponding with their gender identity violates Title IX, a federal law that bans discrimination based on sex in education.
Besides New York City, Fairfax County schools stand to lose $3.4 million in funding in the next fiscal year, while about $5.8 million will be withheld from Chicago schools and community school districts, according to the Education Department.