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The U.S. Department of Education must abide by earlier promises to give states more time to spend COVID relief money, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.
U.S. District Court Judge Edgardo Ramos issued the preliminary injunction in response to a lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James, 15 other Democratic attorneys general, and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
The injunction only applies in the states that sued and not nationwide. California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, and New Jersey are among the states that joined New York and Pennsylvania in the lawsuit.
“The Trump administration’s illegal decision to cut off essential education funding put some of our most vulnerable students at risk of falling behind in school,” James said in a statement. “This is a major win for our students and teachers who are counting on this funding to help them succeed.”
The Education Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon had told states on March 28 that they had run out of time to spend pandemic relief money, even in cases where department officials had previously agreed to give extensions through March 2026. “COVID is over,” a department spokesperson said at the time to justify the decision.
The abrupt suspension of payments left state education departments and school districts scrambling. In some cases, school districts were in the middle of construction projects or had to suspend tutoring contracts. In other cases, local agencies had already paid for services and were waiting for reimbursements.
The coalition, led by James in New York, sued to restore the flow of money. The lawsuit alleged the decision was “arbitrary and capricious,” that the department failed to provide a sufficient explanation, and that the move was contrary to Congress’ intent.
The federal government allocated roughly $190 billion to U.S. schools across three separate aid packages to help them respond to the challenges of COVID. The last and largest of these, the American Rescue Plan, provided $123 billion to K-12 schools, with 20% of the money required to go toward academic recovery.
Schools originally had until January to spend the money, and most schools met that deadline. But the Biden administration created a process that allowed states to request extensions on their own behalf or on behalf of school districts. Department officials confirmed those extensions in February, after President Donald Trump took office. Nearly $3 billion remained unspent as of March, according to an Education Department spreadsheet originally obtained by The 74.
The judge’s order temporarily blocks the Education Department from enforcing the policy laid out in the March 28 letter and requires the department to file proof that it informed employees of this change within three days.
That would restore access to more than $1 billion across the 17 states, the New York Attorney General’s Office said, while the lawsuit plays out in court.
If the Education Department wants to make other changes to deadlines for spending pandemic relief money, it must provide states with 14 days notice.
Erica Meltzer is Chalkbeat’s national editor based in Colorado. Contact Erica at emeltzer@chalkbeat.org.
