New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin responded to official confirmation that the U.S. Department of Education has released $158 million in previously withheld education funding to New Jersey. Attorney General Platkin joined a coalition in filing a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s abrupt and unlawful decision to freeze this funding earlier this month.

“From the beginning, we have made clear that the President’s attempt to freeze $158 million in critical education funding for New Jersey was illegal and deeply damaging to students, families, teachers, and schools. Now, under pressure from our lawsuit, the Administration has relented. There is simply no excuse for the Trump Administration’s reckless attempt to claw funding away from afterschool care and summer programs, teacher training programs, and programs for English learners and students with special needs—and we are glad that even the Trump Administration has now recognized that it made a grave mistake in freezing this funding. Make no mistake: we will continue fighting for New Jerseyans and protecting them from this Administration’s reckless and illegal cuts to federal education funding.” – AG Platkin