Latest news with #MigrantEducationProgram
Boston Globe
6 days ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Trump funding freeze leaves children of migrant farm workers without vital education services
The Trump administration froze $6 billion in funding for educational programs, including the national Migrant Education Program. While the administration in recent days said it will release about $1 billion of those funds, for summer programs and others, the Migrant Education Program money is not among them. Advertisement In addition, President Trump has proposed cutting the Migrant Education Program altogether in the next fiscal budget, saying the programs are expensive, haven't been proven to be effective, and service immigrants who aren't in the country legally. However, the program focuses on families who move due to their employment, regardless of immigration status. While some working the jobs don't have legal immigration status, many hold visas designed for seasonal and agricultural workers, or are US citizens. Children in the regular summer school program at Boland Elementary School followed along with their teacher Riley McLaughlin, where the Massachusetts Migrant Education Program summer programming would be taking place if funding wasn't frozen by the Trump administration in Springfield on July 15. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff The Migrant Education Program, which has operated in Massachusetts since 1966, ensures children like Ery don't fall behind academically as they transfer between different school districts or miss school altogether because of the moves or to work alongside their parents. The program provides additional academic support for children who might be struggling with an inconsistent curriculum and interrupted learning. Advertisement To qualify for the program, children's parents must have moved recently for work in meat or vegetable processing, farm and dairy farms, plant nurseries, or fisheries, or worked in such fields in the past 36 months. Advocates worry cuts to the program will set children, who already are struggling with pandemic learning losses, further behind academically. Ery's mother, Vicenta Gutierrez, repeatedly moved for job opportunities, working in tobacco fields in Florida, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. Last year, the grant served 438 students for summer programs statewide, said Emily Hoffman, director of the program in Massachusetts. Ery was among the 56 who attended the summer program offered at Boland Elementary for students starting at age 3 and continuing through fifth grade. While Boland cannot offer the program this summer, due to the cuts, about 120 students in other parts of the state were able to stay in the summer program, thanks to leftover funds from last year, Hoffman said. However, that's only a fraction of the more than 500 students who qualify, requiring program coordinators to prioritize those with higher needs, she said. 'This federally funded program is essential to making sure that children of agricultural workers and fishers receive the support they need to succeed at school,' said Alexandra Smith, a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, which contracts with the nonprofit Collaborative for Educational Services to provide the services to students. The loss of the program at Boland Elementary is 'heartbreaking' and a 'huge step backwards,' as students will have to go without much-needed services, said Lisa Bakowski, the school's principal, who oversaw the program for the past three summers. Advertisement 'Many of them don't have the resources to find other support,' Bakowski said. ' It's the kids that are going to lose out on it.' Seidner Reynoso, 20, held the book that he used in his English class during the last school year through the Massachusetts Migrant Education Program in Springfield. Reynoso, who's from Guatemala, is learning English through the program. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff Bakowski said the children enrolled in the program are among the most vulnerable in the community. Their parents work in the fields all day and often don't speak English. 'They were doing their part so that mom and dad could work their full days,' she said of the students attending the summer program. Students who qualified for summer instruction at their schools would attend regular summer school in the morning and later in the day be bused to Boland Elementary, where they'd engage in additional instruction or enrichment activities until their parents could pick them up. With summer instruction, Bakowski said, children don't need to start the academic year remediating. Instead, they return to school ready to pick up where they left off. 'It sickens me that it's become a political issue when it really should never have been,' Bakowski said. 'It's about the betterment of humanity and being able to work to assist and provide for pockets of our community that need it.' A critical aspect of the program is the relationship staff members cultivate with families, Hoffman said. By employing multilingual staff who are culturally sensitive to the needs of this specific population, the program is able to more effectively reach and engage with families, she said. It is the connection with the families that allow children to catch up academically and remain in school, Hoffman said. Sometimes one single conversation with a parent leads to a child participating in the program and later increasing their likelihood to graduate from high school. Advertisement Boland Elementary students in summer school left the school on July 15. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff The program has helped generations of children to graduate from high school and pursue professional careers. 'I have three professional children: an engineer, a dentist, and another one becoming a therapist,' Lynn resident Juan Payan said in Spanish. 'All of this, we owe it to the program.' Payan moved to the US from the Dominican Republic on a visa in 2010 to work in Chelsea fields harvesting leafy greens, and the education program was the foundation for his children to learn English, finish high school, and attend college, he said. Payan, who's now a US citizen, no longer works in the fields, but he said he's grateful for all the support he and his family received when they were beginning their life in the United States. In Springfield, Gutierrez, who immigrated from Guatemala and is taking steps toward becoming a US citizen, is now scrambling to find babysitters or family members to watch Ery while she works at a laundromat. He's falling behind academically, Gutierrez said, and she worries his chances of finishing high school and getting better job opportunities than she had will diminish without the return of the program. 'We're not the only ones doing this kind of work, but we are the only people that are paying attention to and serving and connecting with this specific population,' Hoffman said. 'If this program ceases to exist, that is lost.' Marcela Rodrigues can be reached at
Boston Globe
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Trump administration withholds more than $100 million from Mass. schools
'Every day that goes by without this education funding hurts children, educators, communities and our economy,' Healey said in a statement. 'Without this funding, districts are going to be forced to lay off staff, delay or cancel programs and services, and disrupt learning. Our schools were promised this funding, and the Trump Administration needs to deliver it.' Trump proposed to eliminate the programs in question in Advertisement The U.S. Department of Education did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, in its notice to the states, it said, 'The Department remains committed to ensuring taxpayer resources are spent in accordance with the President's priorities and the Department's statutory responsibilities.' Advertisement Money is also being withheld for the Migrant Education Program, which educates migratory farm and fishery workers and their children, adult literacy programs, bullying prevention programs, and more. The missing funds pose the most immediate threat to the summer learning programs, with many camps and other activities set to begin this week. Massachusetts was set to receive more than $20 million in summer and after school funding, Boston Public Schools summer offerings will be largely unaffected, said Chris Smith, executive director of Boston Afterschool and Beyond, at an event Monday launching the city's 5th Quarter Initiative at Dorchester's Level Ground Mixed Martial Arts. 'They're part of the core city in Boston Public Schools budget because we have such strong leadership,' he said. 'So thankfully, we are full throttle on the fifth quarter for all 18,000 plus kids.' The city does have some programs funded by the 21st Century Community Learning Centers federal grants, which are being withheld, but even those will be 'very minimally cut' thanks to having dedicated city funds said district official Magaly Sanchez. Mayor Michelle Wu, speaking after sparring with a student in the 5th Quarter program, said the city's recent budget process was focused on protecting investments in young people. BPS does benefit from other funds among those cut, including more than $2 million each year in English language acquisition funds. Jennifer Aldworth, executive director of the Massachusetts Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs, condemned the Trump administration move in the news release, saying it will affect more than 220,000 children attending Boys and Girls Club programs across the country. The Boys and Girls Club depends on the funding for some of its programs for low income students. Advertisement 'States and community-based organizations have already committed these funds to carry out programming for students and families,' Aldworth said. 'Failure to release this funding will result in summer camp closures, staff layoffs and closures of Boys & Girls Clubs ahead of the 2025-2026 school year — forcing working families to make tough decisions to support their children.' The cuts are likely to set up another legal class between Democratic-led states like Massachusetts and the Trump administration. Just last week, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell joined other states in In May, a federal judge forced the Trump administration to This type of withholding of appropriated funds, known as impoundment, seems to violate the 1974 Impoundment Control Act, but Trump administration officials have argued 'Once again, the Trump administration is choosing the path of cruelty and chaos by waiting until the last possible moment to announce their unconstitutional decision to hold back funding,' state Senator Jason Lewis said in a statement. 'These actions will harm our students, increase the burden on working families, and put even more pressure on municipalities and school districts across the state that are struggling with their finances.' Advertisement Christopher Huffaker can be reached at
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Amid federal turmoil, Hillsborough's Migrant Education Program soars
RIVERVIEW — As graduation season begins, Belzar Roblero-Pedro wanted people to know that his fellow graduates in Hillsborough County's Migrant Education Program were more than just an othered category. They were 'fighters, dreamers and survivors,' he said. Roblero-Pedro grew up between Florida, North Carolina and Michigan, with vivid memories of his parents regularly carrying pounds of strawberries, cucumbers, and blueberries in grueling temperatures. They wanted him and his siblings to be able to pursue their dreams, he said. But at school, he said, he was met at times with racial slurs, snickers when his name was called or other students asking if his parents had 'hopped the border to be here.' This month, the Armwood High School senior was one of 85 Hillsborough County students on track to graduate through the Migrant Education Program. For them, it's the end of a journey filled with added challenges that come with often moving between states several times within a school year. 'Not just across states,' Roblero-Pedro said, 'but across identities, and the dreams of our families and our own.' The Office of Migrant Education, the federal office in the Department of Education that runs the Migrant Education Program, was created in the 1960s, around the time a documentary about migrant workers created public outcry about the living conditions of agricultural and fishing workerswho often make several moves a year. Though the majority of participants in Florida's Migrant Education Program are Latino, in Hillsborough County, not all migrant students are immigrants, and the demographics of the program have shifted as the agricultural industry has shifted. According to agricultural worker surveys by the U.S. Department of Labor, data from 1989 to 1993 shows that almost three in five agricultural workers were white, compared to less than a third from 2019 to 2022 period. In Hillsborough County, the program serves more than 1,800 children aged 3 to 21 in schools. Its small staff of advocates seek out children of migrant workers, educating parents about their rights and responsibilities, bridging the gap between curriculum requirements in different states, offering tutoring services and sometimes helping address food insecurity. They often work nights and weekends, making home visits around work schedules. With President Donald Trump setting a goal of dismantling the Department of Education, and specifically targeting Title I, Part A funding that supports low-income students, little has been said about Title I, Part C, the program's federal source of funding Carol Mayo, who has supervised the program in Hillsborough County since 2013, said there is too much work to be done for the time being. 'I don't think anyone's really heard anything' about future funding, she said, though the program has seen less funding in recent years. 'We work really hard to make sure that (families) know school is the safest place for your child. It doesn't matter what's going on. That's always been the message.' But on an evening earlier this month celebrating their largest graduating class in recent years, it was a moment to celebrate the students and recognize their families' sacrifices, as a mariachi band played the national anthem and tears flowed from parents and teachers. Silvia Villegas said she was filled with pride to watch her daughter Jasmine graduate among the top of her class at Lennard High School. Olga Perez, a teacher and migrant advocate for more than 20 years, worked with Villegas' older daughter, who was Lennard's valedictorian in 2007. It was a full-circle moment for her, too. Perez said she hoped people thought about the invisible labor behind produce displays at grocery stores. 'There's a story behind those beautiful displays of vegetables, fruits,' she said. 'There's sweat, tears. Those kids have to go to schools in different districts. They have to leave people behind, leave friends behind. They have to follow the crops.' Araseli Martinez Pena, founder of an education equity firm and a doctoral candidate at the University of South Florida, was a former Migrant Education Program graduate. She told graduates they'd face challenges ahead. 'You will have many voices that tell you you cannot do what you dream of doing,' she said. 'You will have many voices that tell you you cannot dream at all. 'The only voice that's important is the one in your own head, because your worth, your value, is defined by who you are, and what you tell yourself you can do.'
Miami Herald
21-03-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Trump wants to end the dept. of education. What does it mean for South Florida schools?
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday calling for closing the federal Department of Education. The order directs the secretary of education to take steps to close down the federal office and put the power of education in the hands of individual states. Only Congress can eliminate the department, but already Secretary of Education Linda McMahon has made drastic cuts, including eliminating half of the staff. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was in the White House when the President signed the order, along with other Republican governors and supporters, including members of the right-wing group Moms for Liberty. In a TV interview with FOX News, Gov. DeSantis supported the move while also saying that it is unlikely that Congress will codify the order. 'So while this is a good policy in the instant, we want it to stand the test of time. Congress has to be the one to do that,' he said. He also bashed Congress for not limiting the jurisdiction of the courts which have been pushing back on many of the president's executive orders. Andrew Spar, the director of the Florida Education Association, the largest teachers union in the state, says that in his conversation with education leaders nationwide, they see the order as amorphous and largely symbolic, yet still concerning. Spar says the order itself is 'more about the show than anything else,' but that if the order is followed through on and approved by Congress, it could have a large impact on programs as soon as the next school year. Programs for disadvantaged and disabled students The state of Florida is estimated to receive over $10 billion in total from the federal Department of Education during the 2025 fiscal year, according to its website. This includes grants for a wide variety of programs, including $2 billion in Pell Grants for low-income college students. There are 339 schools in Miami-Dade County receiving Title I funds, which are federal dollars to support schools with low-income students. In Broward, there are 198 Title I schools that could be impacted if the structure of education funding is changed the way the order describes. One of the many schools that receives federal funding in Miami is Cope Center North which provides an education for pregnant women and young moms. Another program in Miami-Dade that may be impacted is the Migrant Education Program, which identifies students who may be transient due to their parents' jobs in the agriculture industry. The program provides assistance and resources to these students. The migrant program has received over $1 million in funding for the past few years. Sonia Martinez, assistant principal at West Homestead K–8, a Title I school that has migrant students who benefit from the program, said that federal programs such as free lunch, the migrant education program, and Title I funding are helpful to students, but she doesn't yet know how the executive order will affect her students. Federal funding accounts for 8 percent, or about $200 million, of Broward County Public Schools' $6 billion budget, said Broward school board member Rebecca Thompson. Though school board members have not yet discussed Trump's plans to dismantle the Department of Education on the dais, Thompson said she's had some discussions with Superintendent Howard Hepburn and the district financial department on what BCPS' options may be. 'It's hard to strategize for because we don't actually know what this means,' Thompson said. 'The main concern is how this is going to impact our most vulnerable students, and what's going to happen to the funding if it's no longer coming from the Department of Education.' In a text message on Thursday, Miami-Dade schools superintendent Jose L. Dotres told the Herald that Title I funding and funding for disabled students are critical in Miami-Dade, but that the impact of the executive order is still unknown and the district is awaiting details. 'We really work very closely with the Department of Education at the state level, and federal allocations usually channel through the state,' said Dotres. 'What is important for us is making sure we are properly funded for services we have for students,' he said. Bringing power back to the states Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., said in a tweet 'It's time to return education to the states & in Florida, we will ensure our kids are not just at grade-level, but that they're PROFICIENT.' If federal money for education is given directly to the states in the form of block grants, states could then have the ability to choose how the money is spent. A statement released by the White House says states are 'best positioned to administer effective programs and services that benefit their own unique populations and needs.' But opponents of this say it could be dangerous for students with disabilities and under-served students, as some states could decide not to prioritize those groups and use it in other ways, such as for funding school choice voucher programs. These voucher programs give money to parents to subsidize their child's tuition at private schools. The executive order also said that it shall ensure 'the requirement that any program or activity receiving Federal assistance terminate illegal discrimination obscured under the label 'diversity, equity, and inclusion' or similar terms and programs promoting gender ideology.' While it's unclear what happens next, Thompson encourages parents to stay informed but to not panic. As of now, nothing concrete has changed at Broward County schools, Thompson said. 'This sounds very scary. I think that's part of the point,' Thompson said. 'I think people should be aware of what's happening, but until we know what the actual effects are, try to stay positive. It's really important that parents remain engaged, contact their representatives and make sure their representatives know how important these services are to their children.' Miami Herald reporter Amanda Rosa contributed to this report.
