Sixteen states and the District of Columbia are suing the U.S. Department of Education after it canceled the remaining billions of dollars in ESSER funding despite an extension granted during the Biden administration. The lawsuit claims the decision is “tremendously harmful” to schools.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. Court for the Southern District of New York suggesting that K12 schools were stripped of their previously promised pandemic relief funds “with no advance notice or warning.”
“Education Secretary [Linda] McMahon abruptly and arbitrarily reversed course, notifying Plaintiffs that as of 5:00 pm that day, ED had unilaterally rescinded extensions of time to liquidate grant funds previously approved by ED,” the lawsuit reads.
The lawsuit continues by reminding the Education Department that extensions were designed to allow schools to access the awarded funds through March 2026. McMahon’s letter, however, suggested that the window to access the funds had already expired.
“If the rescission action is not vacated and the approved extensions are not reinstated, key programs and services that address ongoing and emerging education needs of Plaintiffs’ students and local school districts to combat the long-term effects of the pandemic will have to be dissolved or disbanded,” the lawsuit continues.
This might include the termination of state employees and contractors, along with the employees of businesses providing academic services in schools.
“The result of ED’s rescission is a massive, unexpected funding gap that is causing serious harm to the public, cutting off vital education services, all to the detriment of the students whom Congress intended to benefit,” the lawsuit reads.
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According to McMahon’s March 28 letter, she said she would consider ESSER spending reimbursements for states that could make a case for how their projects directly address COVID’s impact.
“The Department has concluded that the further extensions of the liquidation period of the aforementioned grants, already well past the period of performance, was not justified,” she wrote. “You and your recipients have had ample time to liquidate obligations.”
State leaders and economists, including Georgetown University’s Edunomics Lab Director Marguerite Roza, said the decision was shocking.
“I can’t speak for others, but I did not see this announcement coming,” Roza told District Administration. “We always warned that extensions were tenuous and urged districts and states to stay on top of their spending and reimbursements.”
