On Friday, the Trump administration took another step toward reining-in wasteful government spending and narrowing Washington’s role in K-12 education.
The Department of Education announced that it would be modifying the liquidation period for states to spend remaining COVID “relief” dollars, giving them until close of business Friday, March 28 to obligate any remaining funds, rather than until March 2026—a lengthy extension previously granted by the Biden administration.
Background to the COVID ‘relief’ spending
In 2020, Congress appropriated an unprecedented $189.5 billion in temporary funding for K-12 schools to defray pandemic-related costs. School districts originally had until Sept. 30, 2024 to obligate the last of those funds—the largest ($122 billion) tranche known as the American Rescue Plan—designating how they would spend the remaining…
