"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. Federal officials had said the city's 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."
"It similarly cut MSAP grants for school districts in Chicago and Virginia. "The administration is punishing New York children because the city refuses to turn its back on transgender students," Velázquez told Brooklyn Paper in a statement. "That is unacceptable. Congress approved this funding, and the administration must do the right thing and release it immediately.""
"The grants provided "critical funding" for STEAM, arts, engineering, journalism and leadership programs at schools "which have historically served isolated, and overwhelmingly low income, Hispanic and Black students," according to a lawsuit the city filed against the federal DOE in October. Five of those schools are located in Velázquez's 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."
Representative Nydia Velázquez urged federal reinstatement of $47 million in Magnet School Assistance Program funding revoked after New York City missed a Department of Education deadline to change transgender-student policies. Federal officials said city rules allowing transgender students to use facilities and participate on sports teams consistent with their gender identity violated Title IX and warned funding would be withdrawn unless policies were changed. The city maintained policies aligned with local law while the administration canceled five MSAP grants and cut similar grants to districts in Chicago and Virginia. The grants supported STEAM, arts, engineering, journalism and leadership programs serving largely low-income Hispanic and Black students across several Brooklyn and Queens schools.
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