Tom Horne Superintendent | Arizona Department of Education
Superintendent Tom Horne has responded to recent statements by Attorney General Mayes regarding the release of federal school funds. In a statement, Horne addressed claims that the release was due to legal action led by Mayes.
“Attorney General Mayes issued a statement claiming that the federal government released school funds because of a lawsuit that she joined against the federal government. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The federal government never canceled those funds. It delayed paying them in order to do a study to make sure they were being used properly for education purposes.
On July 25, I issued a press release pointing out that when the pause occurred a lot of people panicked thinking the money would go away entirely. I said at the time that this was merely a positive review.
The federal government released the funds upon conclusion of the study, as had been foreseen, and not because a court case was filed. One thing we know for sure about the Trump administration is that if they wanted to cancel the funds, the response to the lawsuit would’ve been to appeal it up the chain to the United States Supreme Court, if necessary. They do not just throw in the towel when sued, if anything, a lawsuit like that gets their back up.
In this case they never intended to cancel the funds but only to have a pause for a study. I clarified this for the public and that is exactly what happened.”
Horne emphasized that his earlier communication had explained both the reason for and outcome of the delay in funding, which he attributed solely to an administrative review process rather than litigation.
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