Trump’s freeze on education funding shorts NC schools recovering from Helene

Kids eat snacks in their "cabin groups" at the Project:Camp pop-up daycamp for families impacted by Hurricane Helene in Brevard, N.C., Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Gabriela Aoun Angueira)

By Michael McElroy

July 16, 2025

NC Attorney General Jeff Jackson said President Trump’s freeze on federal education funding includes $18 million going to western NC schools recovering from Helene.

The day before federal funding was meant to kick in for North Carolina schools to use in their budgets for the coming school year, the Trump administration sent a letter to state officials saying it was freezing $165 million in spending.

That includes $18 million for schools still recovering from Hurricane Helene, NC Attorney General Jeff Jackson said on Monday. That’s part of why Jackson said he’s joined a lawsuit to block the Education Department from reneging on the funding, which Congress had already approved and public schools were counting on. Scroll below for a breakdown.

North Carolina news, events, and culture in one free, award-winning email. Sign up for Cardinal & Pine’s newsletter here.

Author

Michael McElroy

Michael McElroy is Cardinal & Pine's political correspondent. He is an adjunct instructor at UNC-Chapel Hill's Hussman School of Journalism and Media, and a former editor at The New York Times.

View all posts

CATEGORIES: EDUCATION

Support Our Cause

Thank you for taking the time to read our work. Before you go, we hope you'll consider supporting our values-driven journalism, which has always strived to make clear what's really at stake for North Carolinians and our future.

Since day one, our goal here at Cardinal & Pine has always been to empower people across the state with fact-based news and information. We believe that when people are armed with knowledge about what's happening in their local, state, and federal governments—including who is working on their behalf and who is actively trying to block efforts aimed at improving the daily lives of North Carolina families—they will be inspired to become civically engaged.