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BALTIMORE, MD – Attorney General Anthony G. Brown joined a coalition of
16 state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit late Monday against the U.S. Department of
Education for illegally cutting congressionally approved funding for mental health programs in
K-12 schools.
After the tragic deaths of 19 students and 2 teachers during a mass school shooting in Uvalde,
Texas, a bipartisan Congress appropriated over $100 million in order to permanently bring
14,000 mental health professionals into the schools that needed it the most. The programs have
delivered. 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.
The Department of Education awarded grants spanning a five-year project period and makes
yearly decisions to continue each grant’s funding. As required by its regulations, the Department
of Education considers the grantee’s performance when deciding whether to continue funding.
On April 29, 2025, the Department of Education sent boilerplate notices to grantees claiming that
their grants now conflicted with the Trump administration’s priorities and funding would be
discontinued. The Department’s non-continuation decision means that Maryland K-12students
will have significantly less mental health support.
Bowie State University, a historically black institution, operates the Ujima Center for School
Counseling Scholars, through a Department grant. Supporting graduate students seeking a degree
in school counseling, the Ujima Center has already enrolled 46 scholars, who gain experience
while providing critical mental health services at high-need K-12 schools. Without warning, the
Department cancelled the supporting grant in its entirety, an over $2 million dollar loss, which
will end the Ujima Center if not reversed.
Similarly, the University of Maryland at Baltimore runs their School-Based Mental Health
Fellowship, creating a training pipeline for mental health professionals. The fellowship supports undergraduate and graduate-level education, leading to sustained employment in K-12
schools. Over the past two years, the program has already placed 67 fellows in approximately 50
schools where the need for mental health resources is acute. The Department abruptly cancelled
the University’s grant, without notice, representing nearly $2.5 million in anticipated funding,
which will terminate the fellowship if not enjoined.
“The Trump Administration’s termination of grants supporting school counselors and other
mental health professionals at Maryland schools is a cruel and reckless action that puts our
students at increased risk of suicide and self-harm,” said Attorney General Anthony
Brown. “Established to prevent school violence like mass-shootings, these programs are critical
to ensuring the well-being of our students. We will not allow the Trump administration to
threaten our children’s safety or jeopardize Maryland’s programs that support them and set them
up for success.”
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 that the funding cuts are illegal and seek an injunction rescinding the noncontinuation decision.
Joining Attorney General Brown in filing the lawsuit are the attorneys general of California,
Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, New
York, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin.
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