ATLANTA — The federal government has told Georgia it will soon release the rest of the education funding it had held back from public K-12 schools.
The Georgia Department of Education said Friday that the administration of President Donald Trump will send the state tens of millions of dollars tied to federal law.
The agency won’t know the total amount until next week, but last year’s funding in these categories came to more than $154 million.
The money that the U.S. Department of Education approved for release is tied to four sections of federal law:
Title I-C is for educating migrant children, Title II-A supplements educator training, Title III-A helps educate students who are not native English speakers, and Title IV-A is a flexible grant for discretionary use.
On Thursday, the Georgia education department confirmed receipt of $40.6 million for a fifth section of federal law, Title IV-B, for afterschool programming, which had been due July 1.
The state Board of Education has scheduled a meeting Tuesday to formally accept that money and any of the additional funding if it is received by then.
The Trump administration has already released funding for other programs, such as special education and Title I-A, for “economically and educationally disadvantaged” students.
State School Superintendent Richard Woods had been publicly pressuring the federal government to send the money. He expressed gratitude Friday for the decision to release these remaining funds. The money will be coming as schools prepare for the return students of students over the next two weeks.
“To lead effectively,” Woods said, “we must have timely and reliable access to resources approved by Congress and signed into law by the president.”