Staff report
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez joined a lawsuit against the Trump administration for blocking states’ access to hundreds of millions of dollars in education funds.
Torrez announced in a press release Friday that he has joined a coalition of 15 other attorneys general and the Governor of Pennsylvania in the lawsuit, which aims to restore states’ access to Department of Education programs that support low-income and unhoused students and provide funding for services addressing the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on K-12 students.
The coalition is seeking a court order to ensure continued access to these funds, which they argue were abruptly cut off by the Department of Education. Previously, states were told these funds would be accessible through March 2026. The lawsuit claims the department’s action violates the Administrative Procedure Act by reversing a prior decision without sufficient explanation and contrary to Congress’s intent.
“Cutting critical funding that students and schools are counting on is unacceptable and reckless,” Torrez said in the press release. “These cuts will have a detrimental effect on our children, stunting their ability to learn in the classroom by rendering schools unable to provide essential resources like food, classroom supplies, special education for teachers and more. Our office will always fight for the wellbeing of our children and we prioritize ensuring that they receive the resources they need to reach their full potential.”
The Department of Education recently notified states of the termination of hundreds of millions of dollars in grants from three programs funded by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA): Homeless Children and Youth (HCY), Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER), and Emergency Assistance to Nonpublic Schools (EANS). These programs provide vital support, including food, personal care items, classroom supplies, and teacher training.
The coalition argues that the sudden termination of these funds has created a significant budget gap for state education departments and local school districts, potentially leading to an inability to provide essential public services, pay employees, or maintain quality education for K-12 students.
Joining Attorney General Torrez in the lawsuit are attorneys general from Arizona, California, Delaware, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and the District of Columbia, along with the Governor of Pennsylvania.
Why is funding needed for “services addressing the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on K-12 students”? Do you mean to suggest that keeping students physically away from schools for such a long time as we did in NM had a negative impact?
That’s rich, Raul. Why don’t you talk to our governor about that?
Is this the same AG Torrez who argued in front of the New Mexico Supreme Court that jury perjury is protected speech? While trying to keep a wrongly convicted LEO in prison, that AG Torrez? He can’t claim the high ground after that.
The quality (or lack thereof) of education in New Mexico should be a total embarrassment to EVERY SINGLE LAWMAKER IN THIS STATE. Attempts to defend this lack of quality fall on deaf ears of every parent, rightfully so. We are 50th, I repeat 50th, in the States in our Union. It is totally wrong in our State which, by the way, boasts a Soverign Wealth Fund of $40 billion (third highest in our Nation after Texas and Alaska) to put education at dead last in the United States of America. This should be fixed NOW.
Maybe the AG should spend time fighting crime instead of wasting time and our tax money fighting someone who won the majority of Americans. Vote these folks out and Flip NM