{"id":53349,"date":"2025-11-26T20:38:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T20:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/53349\/"},"modified":"2025-11-26T20:38:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T20:38:08","slug":"velazquez-urges-trump-administration-to-reverse-illegal-magnet-school-funding-cuts-brooklyn-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/53349\/","title":{"rendered":"Vel\u00e1zquez urges Trump administration to reverse \u2018illegal\u2019 magnet school funding cuts \u2022 Brooklyn Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"trump\t\t\t<\/p>\n

U.S. Rep. Nydia Vel\u00e1zquez is urging the Trump administration to reinstate magnet school funding for New York City. <\/p>\n

Photos via Kevin Lamarque\/REUTERS, Amanda Andrade-Rhoades\/REUTERS<\/p>\n

U.S. Rep. Nydia Vel\u00e1zquez is urging the federal government to reinstate funding for New York City\u2019s magnet schools, claiming the administration\u2019s decision to cancel already-awarded grants was \u201cillegal\u201d and could impact students for years to come.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration in September canceled $47 million in federal Magnet School Assistance Program funds after the city missed a deadline set by the federal Department of Education to change its policies on transgender students.<\/p>\n

Federal officials had said the city\u2019s rules allowing transgender students to use facilities and participate on sports teams in line with their gender identity violated Title IX, and said funding would be pulled unless those policies were changed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"studentsThe federal DOE canceled five magnet school grants in New York City. File photo courtesy of Gerardo Romo\/NYC Council Media Unit<\/p>\n

The policies, which align with city and state law, remained in place \u2014 though Mayor Eric Adams publicly considered<\/a> changing them \u2014 and the federal government summarily canceled five different five-year MSAP grants. It similarly cut MSAP grants for school districts<\/a> in Chicago and Virginia.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe administration is punishing New York children because the city refuses to turn its back on transgender students,\u201d Vel\u00e1zquez told Brooklyn Paper in a statement. \u201cThat is unacceptable. Congress approved this funding, and the administration must do the right thing and release it immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n

The grants provided \u201ccritical funding\u201d for STEAM, arts, engineering, journalism and leadership programs at schools \u201cwhich have historically served isolated, and overwhelmingly low income, Hispanic and Black students,\u201d according to a lawsuit the city filed against the federal DOE in October.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Five of those schools are located in Vel\u00e1zquez\u2019s district: P.S. 171 Abraham Lincoln, P.S. 86 The Irvington, P.S. 116 Elizabeth L Farrell and P.S. 145 Andrew Jackson, all in Brooklyn; and P.S. 64 Joseph P. Addabbo in Ozone Park, Queens.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"magnetP.S. 116 Elizabeth L. Farrell, one of five magnet schools in Vel\u00e1zquez\u2019s district. Photo courtesy of Google Maps<\/p>\n

All five schools serve students who are majority Hispanic or Asian, and have higher-than-average numbers of students facing economic hardship, according to city data. The four Brooklyn schools were chosen to become magnet schools in 2022<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a Nov. 17 letter to federal Department of Education secretary Linda E. McMahon and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, Vel\u00e1zquez said the grant cancellation undermined the DOE\u2019s own goals and could widen opportunity gaps for magnet school students.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYour administration\u2019s baseless cancellation of millions of grant funding in response to New York City policies that are inclusive and protective of students regardless of gender identity is not only reckless but discriminatory,\u201d Vel\u00e1zquez wrote. \u201cIt demonstrates significant disregard for educating our country\u2019s future leaders, and once again, your willingness to put your politics over the well-being of nearly 7,700 students attending the affected schools, five of which are \u2026 within my district.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"NydiaVel\u00e1squez slammed the cuts, and urged the administration to reinstate the funds immediately. File photo by Todd Maisel<\/p>\n

The MSAP program was created to support the desegregation of public schools, provide equitable access to high quality education, and create \u201cinnovative educational methods and practices,\u201d per the U.S. Department of Education<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my district, magnet schools keep students engaged and help boost academic achievements, producing national chess champions, award-winning debaters, and accomplished dancers,\u201d the congress member wrote. \u201cThe MSAP program has a proven track record of preparing students for success as they progress on the pathway to higher education.\u201d<\/p>\n

She urged the feds to reverse the cancellation \u201cso that our city can continue to protect the civil rights of all students while providing quality education toall students to prepare them to enter the workforce and contribute meaningfully to our economy, culture, and civic life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last month, New York City sued<\/a> the federal DOE in an effort to get the grants reinstated.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"schoolsNYC public schools chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos, who said the city will continue to fight to reinstate the rest of the grant funds.Photo courtesy of Michael Appleton\/Mayoral Photography Office<\/p>\n

Per court documents, federal officials in the past have found that the city\u2019s MSAP projects were \u201centirely consistent with Title IX,\u201d and that the Trump administration has a \u201cfixation with upending the Department\u2019s previously accepted interpretation of Title IX.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The city also said the grant cancellations were carried out \u201cunlawfully,\u201d without observing Title IX\u2019s rules, and were a \u201cclear attempted end run around the Congressional directive that school funding not be pulled on a whim.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Nov. 20, the city and the U.S. DOE reached an agreement in federal court that allows NYCPS to use leftover grant funds \u2014 about $12 million \u2014 from Fiscal Year 2025 for expenses incurred in FY2026. The city will \u201ccontinue to push to reach a final decision\u201d on the grants for FY2026-28, said schools chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"U.S. Rep. Nydia Vel\u00e1zquez is urging the Trump administration to reinstate magnet school funding for New York City.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":53350,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,9449,858,4337,2926,153,67,29442,29443,28312,3100,25981,5392,29444,2400,29445,9,24,3059,12,370,29446,63,27174,8004,87,209,5271,1069,655],"class_list":["post-53349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-bushwick","tag-congress","tag-department-of-education","tag-doe","tag-donald-trump","tag-education","tag-federal-department-of-education","tag-grand-funding","tag-kids-and-education","tag-lawsuit","tag-letter","tag-linda-mcmahon","tag-magnet-schools","tag-mayor-eric-adams","tag-msap","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-public-schools","tag-news","tag-newsletter","tag-ny-7","tag-nyc","tag-nycps","tag-nydia-velazquez","tag-politics","tag-public-schools","tag-schools","tag-trump","tag-trump-administration"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53349\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}