Lois Frankel Demands Trump Administration Release $7 Billion In Frozen Federal Education Funding

Forbes Breaking News

On Thursday, Rep. Lois Frankel (D-FL) called on the Trump administration to release $7 billion dollars of appropriated funding for public education.

Transcript

00:00Member of Congress here in Palm Beach County, thank you all for coming today.

00:05I got some really great special guests for me today.

00:08We've got Virginia Sarriato from the Palm Beach County School Board.

00:12We've got Pablo Tejada from the Boys and Girls Club.

00:16And the star of our show today is Alonzo, who is one of the participants in the Boys

00:22and Girls Club.

00:23Today, we are urging the Trump administration to immediately release the $7 billion in federal

00:31education fund that we are holding back from public schools across the country, schools

00:39that serve 90% of Americans' children.

00:44This funding has already been approved by Congress.

00:47It's meant for academic support, after school programs, teacher training, English language

00:52instruction, and more.

00:54We've been given no excuse for this delay.

01:00Here in Palm Beach County, it's amazing, we're the 10th largest school district in the country.

01:07So that means out of this billions of dollars, we're set to lose $32 million here, funds that

01:13support staff and programs serving more than our 180,000 students.

01:19And today we're going to talk about one program in particular, which I have a great fondness

01:23for because when I was mayor, I spent so much time at the Boys and Girls Club.

01:30And this is where this cut back on funding is going to be felt more deeply than ever.

01:35This is at the Boys and Girls Club in Palm Beach County, which serves over 30,000 children,

01:41across 20 sites, nearly $9 million, which is about almost half their budget, is being withheld.

01:50And that's funding for after school programs.

01:54It's safe, help working parents to prepare our children for bright futures.

02:09I'm going to tell you about a personal story, I'm going to tell you about Camille Young, she's

02:14a young woman that I had the privilege of mentoring through a local mentoring program.

02:19And I saw firsthand how the Boys and Girls Club supported her, protected her, and shaped the future.

02:28Her mother worked two jobs to make ends meet, so she couldn't be home in the afternoons.

02:33And we know those afternoons after school, I call them the witching hours, right?

02:37That's the time our children are most at risk if they are not being supervised.

02:42But Camille had a safe place to go, a local Boys and Girls Club, where she was surrounded

02:48by caring adults and friends, and she got help with her homework, essential life skills,

02:53and received guidance for her career and college.

02:57Today, Camille not only is a college graduate, but she is a nurse and a proud mother.

03:04She's one of the many thousands of people, young people, that this club has helped over,

03:11it's been almost 50 years, is that right?

03:13Almost 50 years in our county.

03:16So this federal funding that we're talking about was supposed to be distributed on July 1st.

03:23The Department of Education says it's under review.

03:27I'm going to respectfully say that's unacceptable, because keep in mind, this again is against

03:34a backdrop where we know that Republicans are trying to move public school funds into private

03:40school vouchers, looking for money to pay for their tax cuts, and dismantle the Department

03:49of Education.

03:50So this is our children playing the price for these kinds of politics.

03:55On Friday, I'm going to be joined by many of my colleagues.

03:58We're going to deliver a letter to the Secretary of Education and to Trump's Budget Director,

04:04insisting that these funds be released immediately.

04:07We have a copy of those letters for you.

04:10And we're requesting the full explanation for this delay.

04:14And I think we can all agree that our children are our future.

04:18When we invest in their education, their safety, their environment, we build stronger families

04:23and better communities.

04:25And a good segue when we bring up a woman who is doing that every day as a member of our

04:30school board, Virginia San Diego.

04:32Thank you very much, sir.

04:33Say ,

04:39thank you.

04:41Thank you

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