The U.S. Department of Education has canceled around $1 billion in grant funding to train mental health professionals to work in schools Politico reported April 30.
The funding was intended to help schools hire more psychologists, counselors and other mental health professionals. The funding was passed in 2022 in the wake of a mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that claimed the lives of 19 students and two teachers.
In an internal message obtained by Politico, department staff said the grants conflict with the policy priorities of the current administration. The department “plans to re-envision and re-compete its mental health program funds to more effectively support students’ behavioral health needs,” according to the message.
In a statement to Politico, a spokesperson for the department alleged schools receiving the funding used the grants to “implement race-based actions like recruiting quotas in ways that have nothing to do with mental health.”
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