2 min read

Maine Sen. Angus King is among a group of senators asking that the federal Department of Education restore funding to school-based mental health grants that the agency attempted to abruptly terminate last year.

The independent who caucuses with Democrats joined a dozen colleagues from that side of aisle in drafting a letter to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon in late August, demanding that she fully distribute the funds and provide answers about whether the department is complying with its statutory obligations to oversee the grants.

The issue pertains to two mental health programs created after the 2022 mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. They were funded as part of a bipartisan appropriation that included $1 billion for school mental health services with the goal of bringing 14,000 mental health professionals into schools.

In April of 2025, the Department of Education told states that the program conflicted with the Trump administration’s priorities and that grants would be canceled.

As a result, the senators said, grantees were forced to pause hiring and training and lay off school counselors, psychologists and social workers. Graduate programs supported by the funding could no longer offer scholarships.

Two months later, Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey and 15 other state attorneys general sued the administration over the cuts. Maine had received more than $3 million through the fund at that point.

Courts issued orders in favor of the states, and said the department’s actions were inconsistent with its statutory requirements. The department resumed some of the grants through this past June but imposed new reporting requirements before deciding to release funding for the second half of the year, causing administrative uncertainty, the senators wrote.

Now, they said, the administration has “indicated plans to permanently discontinue these grants, raising serious concerns regarding compliance” with the court’s orders. Through the letter, they demanded that McMahon release the funding as directed by the courts, and answer several questions about how many grantees have received funding since June, and how the department is evaluating compliance.

“These interruptions in student services disrupt the continuity of care,” the letter reads. “The Department’s actions will also slow the recruitment of new mental health professionals, disincentivizing prospective counselors and therapists from serving in our nation’s schools.”

The Department of Education did not respond Thursday to a request for comment.