California money would have prepared teachers for positions in rural and urban schools. Without funding, teacher shortages will increase, Ag Bonta said.
California led the Multinational Coalition to file a new lawsuit against the Trump administration on March 6th over the cancellation of millions of dollars in teacher preparation grants.
“When it comes to our children and teachers… they’re withholding this fund, Attorney General Rob Bonta told reporters Thursday. “This money should flow to avoid a catastrophe.”
The lawsuit alleges that the U.S. Department of Education violated the Administrative Procedures Act when it intentionally ended arbitrarily a nationwide grant of roughly $600 million approved by Congress last year.
The grants will improve teacher quality by addressing a national teacher shortage and educating, placing and supporting new teachers, especially in rural and underserved communities, according to the lawsuit.
Related Stories
The program is designed to create a pipeline for teachers serving rural and urban communities, filling in mathematics, science, bilingual and special education positions.
“We are asking the court to immediately stop these cuts and allow the funds to continue flowing to the state,” Bonta said.
Bonta said withholding funds could contribute to an increase in teacher shortages, meaning larger class sizes, cancelled courses, and teachers taking part in specialized classes.
The Trump administration has sought federal funding cuts in several regions since taking office on January 20th to identify wasteful spending, reduce the workforce, and increase federal efficiency.
For details on cutting educational funding, requests sent to the White House were not returned by publication time.
President Donald Trump will speak at the U.S. Capitol on March 4, 2025. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
According to Bonta, the state has received a “boiler plate” letter from the federal government regarding cuts referring to waste, fraud and abuse.
According to the lawsuit, legislature approved funds last year to address the shortage of teachers for kindergarten through 12th grade.
Federal cuts began on February 7th and included cutting new five-year, $7.5 million grants to train and develop community-centric special education, STEM, and bilingual teachers in Los Angeles.
The program’s goal was to train and certify that approximately 276 teachers and educators would be placed in high-grade urban schools in the Los Angeles and Pasadena school districts.
The cuts included addressing a chronic rural teacher shortage to end the new $2.4 million five-year grant program run by California State Chico.
Another program in Chopping Block is a $8.5 million grant to support a one-year teacher residency that teaches future teachers.
The state is asking judges to suspend funding.
California State University Premier Mildred Garcia said the program has proven to be “very successful” by placing qualified and dedicated educators in some of the state’s most well-known districts.
“The elimination of funds for the Teacher Quality Partnership grant awarded to universities in the California State University System causes widespread and irreparable harm to students and school districts who are honoured to serve through these grants,” Garcia said at a press conference Thursday.
California State University Fullerton, Fullerton, California, March 8, 2023. John Fredrix/Epoch Times
California joined 22 other attorney generals in the lawsuit, filed Jan. 28, asking the court to prevent a freeze of up to $3 trillion in federal aid funds.
