Trump administration should restore funding for school counselors, judge rules

A federal judge ruled Monday that the Trump administration must issue millions of dollars in grants to address the shortage of mental health workers in schools.

Congress Mental health program funded after the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, texasThe purpose of the grant was to help schools hire more counselors, psychologists, and social workers, with a focus on rural and underprivileged areas of the country. but the president donald trumpThe administration opposed the diversity considerations used to award the grants and told recipients they would not receive money after December 2025.

Judge Kimberly K. of the US District Court in Seattle. Evanson’s initial ruling applies only to some grant recipients in the sixteen Democratic-led states that filed the challenge. education departmentDecision of. For example, in Madera County, California, the ruling recovers approximately $3.8 million. In Marin County, California, it underwent an $8 million restoration. The decision will remain in effect until the case progresses.

Department of Education under a Democratic President Joe Biden The first grant was provided. Biden’s administration prioritized giving money to applicants who demonstrated how they would increase the number of counselors from diverse backgrounds or from communities directly served by the school district.

When Trump took office, his administration opposed aspects of the grant programs that were related to race, saying they were harmful to students. In April, his administration said the grants were canceled because they were contrary to the department’s priority of “merit, equity, and excellence in education” and were not in the best interests of the federal government.

In his ruling, Evanson called that decision arbitrary and capricious and said the states had made a case for actual harm from the grant cuts. For example, in Maine, grants enabled nine rural school districts to hire 10 new school mental health workers and retain four more – jobs the state said would be lost if the funding ended.

“Congress created these programs to meet states’ need for school-based mental health services in their schools, and has repeatedly reaffirmed the need for those services over the years by reauthorizing and increasing appropriations for these programs,” Evanson wrote.

“There is no evidence that the Department considered any relevant data related to the grants at issue,” he wrote, “and the Department did not explain to grant recipients why their work did not meet “best interest” criteria.

An Education Department spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

,

The Associated Press’s education coverage receives financial support from several private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropy, a list of supporters, and funded coverage areas on AP.org.