North Carolina Joins Suit Challenging Trump’s School Funding Withholding

North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson, in conjunction with State Superintendent of Public Instruction Mo Green, announced on Monday, July 14, 2025, that North Carolina is joining 24 other states in a lawsuit to gain access to federal funds allocated by the US Congress last March.

Buncombe County was slated to receive the largest slice of the state’s approved-by-Congress allotment—$2,055,795 out of a total state allotment of some $165 million.

The Trump administration announced withholding of the approved grants on June 30, as states were anticipating receipt of the Congressional funds in the month of July. The withholding statement claimed there would be no release until further review to assure resources are “spent in accordance with the President’s priorities.”

Jackson declared in the press conference regarding the suit that the Department of Education “does not have the authority to withhold those funds, certainly not the night before they were set to arrive. We are taking them to court, and I am confident that we are going to prevail, because I think the legal argument here is very straightforward.

Superintendent Green’s statement regarding the withholding of funds noted that the “impact to North Carolina’s public schools cannot be overstated, as these withheld funds make up about 10% of its federal funding.” He added that maneuver puts at risk hundreds of public-school employee positions, and “thousands of students are faced with the reality that they may not be able to access the very funds they need to succeed.”

According to the North Carolina Justice Center, the “unlawful” withholding for this state could fund, for example, 1,960 new teachers or a 3%  pay raise for existing teachers.