Attorney General Platkin Wins Court Order Restoring Critical Education Funding to States

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TRENTON – New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin today secured a court order forcing the Trump Administration to restore states’ access to critical U.S. Department of Education funding for services to address the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on K-12 students in New Jersey and across the country.  The court order prevents the U.S. Department of Education from cutting off access to nearly $1 billion in education funding to the states, including approximately $85 million in education funding for New Jersey alone.

On April 10, Attorney General Platkin joined a coalition of 15 other attorneys general and the Governor of Pennsylvania in suing the Trump Administration for unilaterally ending access to funding under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which the U.S. Department of Education had previously determined the states could access through March 2026. The preliminary injunction issued today by Judge Edgardo Ramos of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York orders the U.S. Department of Education to immediately restore states’ access to these critical funds as the case continues.

“We are grateful that today’s decision puts a stop to the Trump Administration’s reckless and cruel attempts to cut off critical education funding to our state.  Because of our lawsuit, schools, students, and teachers across our state will now continue to have access to $85 million in federal funding jeopardized by the Trump Administration,” said Attorney General Platkin. “As the court’s decision today makes clear, stripping access to federal funding that helps some of our state’s most vulnerable students violates the law, plain and simple.  We look forward to continuing our case and permanently stopping the Trump Administration from inflicting further harm on our schools, students, and teachers.”

To combat the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, ARPA funded education-related programs to help support the school systems in states and direct more resources to the most vulnerable students. These programs provide essential resources to help schools and students recover from the lasting impacts of the pandemic. These programs also support critical services to help vulnerable students, including unhoused youth, reach their full potential and recover from missed classroom time and other negative effects of the pandemic.

Attorney General Platkin and the coalition asserted that U.S. Department of Education’s arbitrary and abrupt revocation of the states’ access to these funds is causing a massive, unexpected budget gap that will hurt students and teachers by cutting off access to vital education services.

Judge Ramos today granted the states’ motion for a preliminary injunction barring the U.S. Department of Education from blocking states’ access to ARPA funding. The preliminary injunction order issued today prevents ED from enforcing a March 28, 2025 letter from Education Secretary Linda McMahon rescinding states’ ability to access their awarded ARPA funding.

Joining Attorney General Platkin in filing this lawsuit are the attorneys general of New York, Arizona, California, Delaware, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, and the District of Columbia, along with the Governor of Pennsylvania.

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