On Monday, North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson joined 24 other mainly Democratic- run states in suing the federal government to prevent it from freezing funds for North Carolina’s schools and educators.
He joined the lawsuit, filed in Rhode Island, by the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin, and the governors of Pennsylvania and Kentucky.
In a press release, he said that schools in the Tar Heel State will lose more than $165 million in funding, the state’s share of $6.8 billion in nationwide federal funding, and about 1,000 educators across the state will lose their jobs.
The cuts make up nearly 10% of all of the state’s federal educational funding.
“Public schools across North Carolina, especially in rural areas, need this money to keep teachers in the classroom and keep kids safe while they learn,” Jackson said. “It’s unlawful and unconstitutional for the Department of Education to withhold money that Congress has appropriated. I’m going to court to get this money for our students, our schools, and North Carolina families.”
Democrat Gov. Josh Stein also reacted to the news.
“Today, North Carolina is taking action to unfreeze funding for North Carolina public schools that was appropriated by Congress,” he said in the release. “Without these funds, nearly 1,000 teachers will have their jobs taken from them. The money also provides after-school programs, supports children learning English, and helps adults learn how to read.”
If the grants are eliminated, Wake County schools stand to lose more than $8 million, Charlotte-Mecklenburg (CMS) schools are estimated to lose over $12.2 million, and western North Carolina schools will lose the most funding per student.
The Wake County Public School System instituted a hiring freeze last week in anticipation of the funding freeze.
The CMS school board sent a letter to the Department of Education asking officials to reverse their decision.
Nine of the 10 school districts losing the most money per student are in rural North Carolina. The counties devastated by Hurricane Helene are facing a cut of roughly $18 million.
“While the NC Department of Public Instruction respects the federal administration’s right to review programs, I must emphasize that our legal obligations to serve these students remain unchanged, and the timing creates significant and unnecessary challenges for schools, community organizations, and most importantly, the children who depend on these services,” Maurice “Mo” Green, superintendent of Public Instruction, said in the release. “I support efforts, including this nationwide lawsuit, to resolve this situation quickly and ensure that North Carolina students receive the support they need and deserve, and that our federal government agreed to provide them.”
In addition to school budgets and teachers’ salaries, the grants go toward before- and after-school programs for students, community learning centers, teacher development programs, and more.
The funds were supposed to be released on July 1, but the Department of Education suspended them on June 30.
“North Carolina public schools spend $3 billion in funds from the federal government per year,” Brian Balfour, vice president of research for the John Locke Foundation, told Carolina Journal. “The Trump administration’s ‘freeze’ would represent about 5.6% of federal funding, is targeted to specific programs, and may prove to be a temporary hold on the funds rather than a permanent reduction. Furthermore, total spending on North Carolina public schools was $18 billion last year, so $169 million is less than 1% of total spending.”
Jackson also noted that the loss of nearly 1,000 teaching positions could have a major impact on school districts throughout North Carolina, with an ongoing teacher shortage, stating that for the 2023-24 school year, data shows almost 9,000 teachers left the profession in the state.
“Multiple North Carolina cities have seen homicide rates increase in 2025 and some NC sheriffs still refuse to cooperate with ICE, but Jackson’s top priority is joining with other radical left-wing attorneys general to spend taxpayer money on a lawsuit against President Trump so he can raise money for his next act of political opportunism,” said NCGOP communications director Matt Mercer in a press release.
The lawsuit came on the same day that the Supreme Court announced that it would allow the Trump administration to fire over 1,000 Department of Education employees, paving the way for President Trump to dismantle the department.
The high court’s decision in McMahon v. State of New York was issued 6-3 along ideological lines.
The post NC joins other states in suing the federal govt for frozen education funds first appeared on Carolina Journal.
The post NC joins other states in suing the federal govt for frozen education funds appeared first on First In Freedom Daily.
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Author: Theresa Opeka
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