by Donald Eng CTNewsJunkie
HARTFORD, CT — Attorney General William Tong has joined a coalition of 16 state attorneys general suing the U.S. Department of Education to stop cuts to congressionally approved funding for mental health programs in K-12 schools. The planned cuts include more than $3 million to support social workers in Hartford, New Britain, Vernon and Waterbury schools through 2029.
“This hurts kids who need us the most,” Tong said. “Our kids desperately need mental health support, and far too few of them are getting the help they need. Congress was right to establish this program, and we’re not going to let (President Donald) Trump steal these funds from our schools.”
The Connecticut Education Association, the largest certified teacher union in the state with about 160 local affiliates, praised Tong’s action.
“In Connecticut alone, these vital funds have supported nearly 46,000 students. Cutting this funding is not only shortsighted and unjust — it’s reckless,” CEA President Kate Dias said in a statement. “Our kids depend on school-based mental health professionals now more than ever.”
After the tragic deaths of 19 students and 2 teachers during a mass school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, a bipartisan Congress appropriated $1 billion to permanently bring 14,000 mental health professionals into the schools that needed it the most. Tong said the programs have been a success.
According to the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), grantees served nearly 775,000 students and hired nearly 1,300 school mental health professionals during the first year of funding. NASP also found a 50% reduction in suicide risk at high-need schools, decreases in absenteeism and behavioral issues, and increases in positive student-staff engagement based on data from sampled programs, Tong said.
Through this program, the University of Connecticut received a $3 million five-year grant to support 25 graduate student social work interns serving nearly 46,000 students in Hartford, New Britain, Vernon and Waterbury.
On April 29, the U.S. Department of Education notified UConn along with other grantees that the funding now conflicted with the Trump administration’s priorities and would be terminated on Dec. 31, 2025.
The attorneys general filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. The complaint alleges that the Department of Education’s funding cuts violate the Administrative Procedure Act and the U.S. Constitution. The attorneys general ask a federal judge to rule the funding cuts are illegal and seek an injunction rescinding the non-continuation decision.
Joining Connecticut in filing the lawsuit are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin.