Wisconsin adult education in jeopardy after Trump withholds $7M in funding

When Maria Paula and her parents moved to Madison from Colombia seven months ago, they had a goal: polish up their English skills. 

Friends told them about a program run by the Literacy Network called Transitions.

The program helps families like Paula’s by offering free English classes and tutoring services to low-income individuals who are permanently living in the United States. 

Paula, 22, attended college in Colombia and plans to enroll in school in Madison. She’s currently working as a nanny, but hopes to become a child psychologist.

But Paula knows she needs to improve her English before moving forward in her career. 

“If you live here, I mean, it’s possible without English,” she said. “But with English, you have more opportunities.”

Literacy Network of Madison has grown from serving about 900 students a year to more than 1,500 students annually over the last two years, said associate director Jennifer Peterson. 

Now that program is in jeopardy.

The Trump administration is withholding more than $6.8 billion in education funding.

In Wisconsin, an estimated $72 million in federal education funding is frozen, which includes more than $7 million that pays for adult education — including programs like Literacy Network’s Transitions program. 

Transitions is funded by a four-year, $72,000 grant. It supports high-level English language learners, like Paula, as they prepare for college and their career. 

Robin Ryan, executive director of Literacy Network in Madison, said adult education funding typically has strong bipartisan backing because it works.

“We see so many talented and skilled people coming into the program,” Ryan said. “It’s so important right now because Wisconsin has a worker shortage in many industries and is projected to continue to have a shortage, so it is short-sighted to reduce this funding.” 

More than 17K adult learners are dependent on federal funds

Statewide, 34,000 students are enrolled in adult education at Wisconsin’s 16 technical colleges. Programs are accessed at colleges or community-based organizations, like Literacy Network.

More than half of those students — about 17,000 — depend on funding under the federal Adult Education and Family Literacy Act to access services. 

Katy Pettersen, director of strategic advancement for the Wisconsin Technical College System, said they were bracing for funding cuts in the next budget cycle, but this year’s cut was a shock.

Every year, the U.S. Department of Education releases about 25 percent of the funds for these programs by July 1. But this year, state agencies were told June 30 that the Department of Education would not be “obligating funds” for six programs.

“We are working with our congressional delegation to explain how this would hinder Wisconsin students and employers,” Pettersen said. “Last year alone, we had 2,500 students transfer from our program into occupational programs. So people are directly going into the workforce after getting their GED or honing their English language learning skills.”

Last week, the state Department of Justice joined 23 other states in suing the  Trump administration for withholding funding. 

Funding restored for Community Learning Centers

The Education Department will release $1.3 billion in previously withheld grant money for after-school programs, after Republican senators sent a letter imploring the Trump administration to allow frozen education money to be sent to states.

The money was released July 18, according to the White House.

Community learning centers in Wisconsin served 20,000 students at 168 sites across the state last school year.

The federal program is designed to support students at high-poverty schools through before- and after-school programs that offer academic and social programs and provide free meals to help students who might suffer food insecurity.

Since 2002, the program has been mostly funded through the federal Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Center grant.

Last year, the state Department of Public Instruction received $19 million to fund the program. That grant was part of the overall education funding cut by the Trump administration.

Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-West Virginia, who chairs the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees education spending, led the letter sent this week by Republican senators, protesting the funding freeze, according to reporting by the Associated Press.

The letter called for the rest of the money to be released, including funds for adult education and teaching English as a second language.

“The decision to withhold this funding is contrary to President Trump’s goal of returning K-12 education to the states,” the senators wrote. “This funding goes directly to states and local school districts, where local leaders decide how this funding is spent.”

Editor’s note: The Associated Press contributed reporting.