TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced Monday that the state has joined a 24-state coalition in suing the Trump Administration over its decision to freeze billions in federal education funding, including $158 million earmarked for New Jersey.
The lawsuit challenges the Department of Education’s June 30 move to halt funding for six long-running education programs, a decision that state officials say has disrupted summer learning initiatives and threatens school-year programs just weeks before the new academic term begins.
“Freezing billions of dollars in critical education funding just ahead of the start of the school year isn’t just wrong and reckless. It is also flagrantly illegal,” said Attorney General Platkin.
One of the major cuts was in the Migrant Education Program.
The Migrant Education Program, funded under ESSA Title I-C, was established following the national attention brought by Edward R. Murrow’s 1960 documentary Harvest of Shame, which exposed the harsh living conditions faced by migrant farm workers and their families.
In response, Congress enacted the Elementary and Secondary Education Amendments of 1966, creating a grant program to support educational services for the children of migratory agricultural workers. The statute provided that states were “entitled” to funding for “establishing or improving programs for migratory children of migratory agricultural workers.”
Due to the transient nature of this population—moving from region to region based on the harvest—Congress required that the program address not only the educational needs of migratory children but also foster coordination across school districts and states.
In 1984, Congress further reinforced the program’s infrastructure by establishing the Office of Migrant Education to oversee its administration, as codified in the Education Amendments of 1984. Despite changes in agricultural practices over the decades, migratory farm workers and their families continue to follow seasonal work across state lines.
Congress has continued to reauthorize and fund the Migrant Education Program over the past sixty years, recognizing its role in addressing “the unique educational needs of migratory children.” The program is designed to help these students overcome frequent school disruptions, cultural and language barriers, social isolation, and health-related challenges that impact their ability to succeed academically. It also facilitates coordination between districts and states through a national record-exchange system, ensuring continuity in the education of migratory students.
Other programs frozen include adult literacy training and teacher continuing education grants.
States argue that the freeze violates multiple federal laws, including the statutes authorizing and appropriating the funds, the Antideficiency Act, and the Impoundment Control Act. The complaint also asserts that the funding freeze breaches the constitutional separation of powers by bypassing Congress’s role in federal spending.
Each year, the U.S. Department of Education typically releases about 25% of the annual funding for these programs by July 1, enabling state and local agencies to plan budgets, hire staff, and sign contracts. This year, state education departments, including New Jersey’s, were notified that no funds would be released for the six formula programs.
The affected grants support summer and afterschool programs, teacher training, English language learner services, and educational programs for students with special needs. Several summer initiatives have already been canceled or scaled back due to the funding lapse.
The coalition is seeking both declaratory and injunctive relief to have the freeze declared unlawful and to compel the release of the withheld funds.
New Jersey and other states are suing the Trump Administration over what they call an illegal freeze of federal education funds just weeks before the school year.
