Today Attorney General Jeff Jackson, Superintendent Mo Green, and State Board of Education Chair Eric Davis held a press conference to announce they were joining with two dozen other states in suing for access to nearly $7 billion in education funding that has been frozen by Trump’s Department of Education.

During the press conference, which you can view here, Attorney General Jackson explained that about two weeks ago, the night before over more than $165 million in federal funds were due to arrive, state officials received a three-sentence email from the Department of Education indicating the funds would be withheld for the foreseeable future. Since then, federal officials have refused to answer any questions from North Carolina officials about the sudden funding freeze.

According to Jackson, the unexpected funding interruption would impact vital services like after school programs for at-risk youth, suicide prevention programs, mental health services for students, and support for English language learners. Jackson added that the actions by the Trump administration may directly lead to the layoffs of 1000 North Carolina educators which of course would result in increased class sizes.

Jackson referred to the suit as “an open and shut case,” saying “Congress created these programs. It authorized funding for these programs. The Department of Education does not have the authority to now withhold those funds–Certainly not the night before they were set to arrive.”

“So we are taking them to court, and I am confident that we are going to prevail, because I think the legal argument here is very straightforward. For all of our teachers and students and parents at home, I know this has injected a lot of uncertainty, a lot of confusion. What I want you to hear from me is that we are going to try and resolve this as fast as possible, so that you can all get back to doing what you need to be doing, which is focusing on having a successful school year.”

Superintendent Mo Green expressed gratitude to Attorney General Jeff Jackson for joining the suit: “I appreciate that filing a lawsuit against the United States government is not an action one should take without considerable deliberation, as we reasonably expect our federal government officials to act in accordance with the United States Constitution, the laws of this nation, and–in this instance–what our nation’s government has obligated itself to do on behalf of our public schools.”

Superintendent Green explained that the negative impact of the loss of funding on North Carolina’s schools would be immense and would affect every student in every school. He called on federal officials to “lean into their better selves,” referring to the lawsuit as “a call for them to do what is right…to honor our collective promise, our commitment to our public school students.

You can read the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Rhode Island today, below: