As the Trump administration continues to try to defund NPR and PBS, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting said this week that the Department of Education has ended a federal grant that helped fund children’s shows.
In a press release on May 6, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting said the canceled grant was called Ready To Learn. The cutting will result in a loss of $23 million that the CPB said would have gone to children’s games and educational shows.
“Nearly every parent has raised their kids on public broadcasting’s children’s content. For the past 30 years, Ready To Learn-funded PBS KIDS content has produced measurable, real-world impacts on children’s learning,” Patricia Harrison, President and CEO of CPB, said in the press release. “Ready To Learn has received strong bipartisan support from Congress for the last 30 years because of the programs’ proven educational value in advancing early learning skills for all children. We will work with Congress and the Administration to preserve funding for this essential program.”
The 2020-2025 cycle, which expires Sept. 30, was approved by the first Trump administration.
Programs funded by the Ready To Learn Grant have included the iconic shows “Sesame Street,” “Reading Rainbow” and “Clifford the Big Red Dog.” Now, popular shows like “Molly of Denali,” “Work It Out Wombats!” and “Lyla in the Loop” are being funded by the grant, the CPB said.
In a statement sent to USA TODAY, Madi Biedermann, a spokesperson for the Department of Education, said the cuts were to funding “racial justice educational programming.”
“This is not aligned with Administration priorities. The Trump Department of Education will prioritize funding that supports meaningful learning and improving student outcomes, not divisive ideologies and woke propaganda,” Biedermann said.