NC sued the feds. How CMS students, teachers could be affected if $12M stays frozen
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools funding for teacher training, English language development and student support services is at stake in North Carolina’s new lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education.
North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson announced Monday the state would join 23 others in suing the U.S. Department of Education for withholding $6.8 billion in previously approved education funding. More than $168 million was earmarked for North Carolina public schools.
State Superintendent Mo Green, a Democrat, spoke alongside Jackson at a news conference in Raleigh Monday, saying legal action was needed to protect NC schools’ funding, The News & Observer reported.
“The impact to North Carolina’s public schools cannot be overstated, as these withheld funds make up about 10% of its federal funding,” Green said. “These funds serve, directly and indirectly, hundreds of thousands of our students, including some of the most vulnerable.”
The funding was set to be disbursed July 1. However, the Department of Education announced June 30 it would withhold more than $6 billion in previously approved education grants indefinitely while it reviewed whether they “align with President Donald Trump’s priorities.”
CMS leaders learned July 3 that $12 million of its federal funds would be frozen. CMS board members penned a letter to the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education at the Department of Education, asking it to reverse its decision.
What the frozen funds are for in CMS
Around $5.5 million – the largest chunk of the frozen funding – is for supporting instruction, a CMS spokesperson told The Charlotte Observer. That includes teacher residency programs, beginner teacher development, principal and assistant principal development, and curriculum use and instruction.
“Our teachers and our school leaders really need this funding. It helps us support our beginning educators and beginning leaders. It helps us retain and grow high-quality educators,” said Amanda Thompson, president of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Association of Educators. “These freezes in funding mean real consequences, like less support for new teachers, fewer opportunities for professional development.”
Thompson said professional development programs for educators, including CMS’ teaching residency program aimed at second-career teachers, are important for recruiting and retaining quality staff as enrollment in traditional training programs plummets across the state.
About 800 fewer people completed educator preparation programs in 2024 than in 2023, according to spring 2025 data. That’s approximately an 18% decline.
Meanwhile, $3.3 million in CMS’ frozen federal funding is allocated for programs for multilingual learners, who are developing English language skills while also learning other academic content. That includes professional development for teachers that serve multilingual students, supplemental English language development materials, community and family engagement for multilingual students and graduation coaches, who help students develop plans to graduate on-time.
Around $3.5 million is allocated for student support services, including student placement, personalized instruction and digital learning materials.
Justin Parmenter is an English teacher at South Academy of International Languages in CMS. He told The Observer he’s grateful NC leaders joined the lawsuit and that he hopes funding can be restored quickly, with the start of school just weeks away.
“If this money is not restored, it’s going to have a massive impact on our most vulnerable populations,” Parmenter said. “Our multilingual learners are going to lose the teachers they need to master English. Students in need of mental health services will go without. Beginning teachers will not get the support that is so crucial to helping them build a strong foundation for their careers, and all teachers, principals and assistant principals will miss out on professional development opportunities that make them better at their craft.”
Thompson said she’s calling on community members and business leaders to step up as well.
“We have to have a village approach. We need our big businesses in Charlotte to stand up,” she said. “This fight that we’re seeing is going to impact everybody in our community: not just public schools, but also the private sector that we want our kids to go work in.”
This story was originally published July 16, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
