Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell joined 15 of her peers from across the country in a federal lawsuit Monday challenging the Department of Education for “illegally withholding congressionally approved funding for mental health programs in K-12 schools,” according to a statement from her office Tuesday.
The Education department awards grants for five years and then makes yearly decisions to continue each grant’s funding, the statement said. On April 29, the department sent “boilerplate notices” to grant recipients “claiming that their grants now conflicted with the Trump Administration’s priorities and funding would be discontinued,” the statement said.
A request for comment on the lawsuit was sent to the Education Department.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in a federal court in Washington state, alleges that the funding cuts from the department “violate the Administrative Procedure Act and the U.S. Constitution,” the statement said. The lawsuit seeks to have a federal judge rule the funding cuts are illegal and grant an injunction to stop the cuts, according to the statement.
Education in Massachusetts has seen $106 million in federal funding cuts under the Trump Administration, according to a state database.
“As our young people face a nationwide mental health epidemic, it is critical to ensure they have access to the resources they need, including mental health professionals in schools,” Campbell said in the statement. “The Trump Administration does not have the power to arbitrarily revoke grant funding that provides critical mental health services to our students.”
“I will continue to fight against unlawful federal actions that harm our children,” she said.
Campbell signed the lawsuit with attorney generals from three other New England states: Connecticut, Maine, and Rhode Island. The remaining states are California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin.
The lawsuit names the Department of Education and Education Secretary Linda McMahon.
Funds for Project Beacon, a University of Massachusetts Boston program that prepares 50 school psychologists and counselors to work in “local, high-need communities to increase students’ access to educational services and to promote school safety through prevention,” will be cut, the statement said. The program works with public schools in Brockton, Lawrence, and Quincy.
“Because of the termination of this program, thousands of low-income American students across several school districts in Greater Boston will lose the support of these psychologists and counselors in training,” the statement said.
In April, Campbell sued the Trump Administration for cutting education funding that benefits low-income and unhoused students and those suffering long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. She also sued the administration to challenge an executive order for election restrictions.
Ava Berger can be reached at ava.berger@globe.com. Follow her @Ava_Berger_.