Florida PTA sues for frozen federal education funds. What that means for Miami-Dade
The Florida Parent Teacher Association and the Florida Education Association joined a national lawsuit to reverse the U.S. Department of Education's decision to block $396 million in federal education funding.
Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the state's largest district, currently has about $35 million in federal funds frozen. Broward County has about $30 million on hold. The freeze had districts scrambling to try to find a path forward just weeks before the start of the school year. Last week in a committee meeting, Miami-Dade schools superintendent Jose L. Dotres told board members that he had no plans for the school district to join as a party to a lawsuit, preferring instead to lobby lawmakers in Tallahassee and Washington, D.C.
In a school board meeting on Wednesday, board member Luisa Santos expressed her thanks to the Florida Parent Teacher Association for their initiative.
The lawsuit, filed in Rhode Island federal court, seeks a preliminary injunction to immediately reinstate the funds, which had previously been approved by Congress. The case was brought by several school districts, parent teacher organizations and teacher's unions from Rhode Island, Texas, Ohio, Illinois, California and Pennsylvania along with the two Florida organizations.
Programs at risk of losing funding include teacher training, English language learner (ELL) services, migrant education, after-school tutoring partnerships with groups like the Boys & Girls Clubs, and food assistance initiatives that help feed low-income students and families.
During Wednesday's school board meeting in Miami-Dade, Santos said the frozen funds pay for at least 1,000 employee positions within the district and affect the district's almost 83,000 English language learners.
Superintendent José Dotres told the board he is working on creating clearer documentation to show how each federal grant is used, in an effort to raise awareness about the importance of the funding.
Many of these enrichment dollars are used to support bilingual education and help students understand emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.
Read more: Miami-Dade schools superintendent presses lawmakers for $35M in frozen funds
Board member Roberto Alonso emphasized the importance of federally funded teacher preparation and training programs.
Jude Bruno, president-elect of the Florida PTA, told the Herald that the organization moved forward with the lawsuit because there is currently no legislative session underway to address the issue.
'With the start of school just days away, we thought this was our only option,' Bruno said.
He added that he's concerned about a shortfall in personnel and school districts' ability to purchase new textbooks and supplies for the upcoming school year.
Other affected districts include Orange County ($22 million), Leon County ($12.5 million), and Pinellas County ($9 million).
'Districts are being forced to make last-minute decisions that threaten student support, staffing, and stability. These are not abstract concerns. The impact will be felt immediately in classrooms, particularly in schools that serve the highest-need communities,' said Maxine Ann-Marie Lewers, president of the Florida PTA, in a statement.
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