The Trump administration said it has pulled millions in funding for new magnet programs at city schools after education department officials did not move to restrict transgender students’ access to bathrooms and sports teams.
The federal education department last week threatened to strip the nation’s largest school district of $15 million in grants to support five new magnet schools if it did not re-evaluate its policies regarding trans students and sign an assurance it does not discriminate according to the Trump administration’s interpretation of civil rights law.
In response, city education officials sent a letter asking for more time and an explanation for why the magnet school funding was being targeted. Federal officials gave New York until Tuesday evening to change its rules.
“The department will not rubber-stamp civil rights compliance,” federal education department spokesperson Julie Hartman said. “These are public schools, funded by hardworking American families, and parents have every right to expect an excellent education — not ideological indoctrination masquerading as ‘inclusive policy.’”
Hartman said New York City’s public schools “blatantly discriminate against students based on race and sex.” The administration is targeting school systems in Chicago and Fairfax County, Virginia, over similar issues.
On Wednesday, Jenna Lyle, a spokesperson for New York City Public Schools, said school system officials are “deeply disappointed” in the federal government’s decision to move forward with the funding freeze.
“Cutting this funding — which invests in specialized curricula, afterschool education and summer learning — harms not only the approximately 8,500 students this program currently benefits, but all of our students from underserved communities,” Lyle said. “If the federal government pulls this funding, that means canceled courses and shrinking enrichment. That’s a consequence our city can’t afford and our students don't deserve.”
A spokesperson for Mayor Eric Adams said Wednesday the city would be “reviewing all of our options here — including litigation — to safeguard these important resources for our children.”
“The federal government is threatening to defund our children’s education as a tool to change policies it doesn’t like,” said mayoral spokesperson Kayla Mamelak Altus. “While Mayor Adams may not agree with every rule or policy, we will always stand up to protect critical resources for our city’s 1 million students.”
A coalition of states sued the Trump administration when it held back some $7 billion in federal education funds last summer, and that funding was eventually released.
Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos affirmed support for the city’s guidelines for trans students while speaking on the "Max Politics" podcast on Friday.
“Those policies remain in place, and we’re going to continue to uphold them as part of our values here in New York City Public Schools,” she said. “Quite simply, when it comes to creating safe spaces for our young people, we want to make sure that every single student regardless of background, regardless of immigration status, regardless of gender identity, that they’re not only welcome but that they feel supported and valued in our system.”
Adams’ comments on Wednesday are also different from his initial response shortly after the federal government threatened the funding cut.
Adams previously publicly vowed to see what legal authority he had to get rid of the provision allowing trans students to access bathrooms corresponding to their gender identity.
Shortly after the federal government threatened the funding cut, the mayor also publicly vowed to see what legal authority he had to get rid of the provision allowing trans students to access bathrooms corresponding to their gender identity.
“I don’t believe that should happen,” Adams said at an unrelated press conference last week. “I believe that we have become so politically correct that we are incorrect. … Boys and girls should not be in the same restrooms at the same time and I think the average parent — particularly if their child is a girl — would agree with me,” he said.
His comments drew sharp criticism, including from political opponents who accused him of cozying up to President Donald Trump.
Zohran Mamdani, who is running against Adams in the upcoming mayoral race, called Adams' actions "transphobic bigotry."
“It's completely at odds with the values of our city and another reason why his single, disgraced term in office cannot end soon enough,” Mamdani said in a social media post.
The announcement is “scary” for parents like Amy Nagopaleen — a writer, activist and mother of a trans student in the city’s public school system.
“They’re using money to try to blackmail the Department of Education into violating state law,” she said.
Nagopaleen, and others affiliated with Aunties and Friends for Liberation, began mobilizing to get more people to vote in local education council elections after a Manhattan school board asked the city education department to review its policies on trans girls in school athletics.
A newly elected board withdrew that ask last month.
“I think that it’s scary to see the escalation that we all knew was coming,” she said. “But in effect, I think they will have a very hard time using this leverage to get anything from the Department of Education.”
This story has been updated to include a comment from Mayor Eric Adams' office.
