CPB tells stations to stop Ready To Learn work following termination by Department of Education
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The Department of Education notified CPB Friday night that its 2020–25 Ready To Learn grant was terminated effective immediately, according to a CPB news release.
CPB subsequently informed PBS and 44 public media stations that receive Ready To Learn grants to stop their work.
“The decision by the Department of Education to abruptly end the Ready to Learn grant will have an immediate and profound impact on the service PBS provides to families and children across America,” said PBS Kids GM Sara DeWitt in a statement to Current. “This decision removes a critical resource public television has used to enable us to create high-quality, educational PBS Kids content while opening up worlds of possibilities for millions of kids across the country. We will continue to fight in order to maintain our essential service.”
A PBS spokesperson told Current that the 2020–25 grants totaled $112 million. Friday’s termination resulted in a loss of $23 million, the spokesperson said, putting current production of games and shows in jeopardy.
In a statement Tuesday, CPB President Pat Harrison said Ready To Learn has historically received “strong bipartisan support” from Congress and previous presidents “because of the programs’ proven educational value in advancing early learning skills for all children.” Harrison said the corporation “will work with Congress and the Administration to preserve funding for this essential program.”
Spokespersons for the Department of Education did not respond to a request for comment.
Ready To Learn is a competitive grant program funded in five-year increments and authorized under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. The program started in 1995, and the current grant cycle expires Sept. 30, according to CPB. In March, Congress approved fiscal year 2025 funding of $31 million for Ready To Learn.
The 2020–25 grants supported projects including Learning Neighborhoods, in which stations support children and caregivers in their communities. The funding led to a program that helped launch children’s podcasts and has also supported short videos that help kids learn emotional literacy.
VPM in Richmond, Va., reported that the station was awarded $160,000 across 2022 and 2023 to participate in Learning Neighborhoods. It was awarded an additional $75,000 for the period from October 2024 through September 2025, but it was not immediately clear how much of that amount was still left to spend.
Previous RTL grants helped fund programs such as Dragon Tales, Between the Lions, Odd Squad, Peg + Cat, Molly of Denali and Elinor Wonders Why, among others.
TPT in St. Paul, Minn., received $4.6 million in 2020 in RTL funding for Mashopolis, an animated series. The station declined to comment through a spokesperson.
The notice from the Department of Education follows an executive order from President Trump last week that aims to stop CPB from funding PBS and NPR. The White House also proposed eliminating funding for CPB in its FY26 budget.
In its release, CPB said Congress is “aware that public media offers a safe place for children to learn, protected from inappropriate content on commercial and social media—free of charge and commercial free.” Nonetheless, public media has come under fire for its children’s content. During a subcommittee hearing in March, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) accused PBS of indoctrinating children with programs featuring transgender people. The White House has also accused public media of pushing “woke” ideologies.
In February, CPB paused Next Generation Warning System work because it was unable to access the Federal Emergency Management Agency funds. CPB sued FEMA, but a judge declined to force the agency to release the funding hold. FEMA voluntarily lifted the hold after private conversations with CPB.
Public media programs have also been affected by cuts to the National Endowment for the Humanities.
This article has been updated with responses from PBS.
I hope this doesn’t mean that PBS Kids will go away.. I grew on PBS Kids shows like Sesame Street, Square One TV, 3-2-1 Contact, Clifford, Arthur, Dragon Tales, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood at a lot more. I still watch it today with shows like the newer Clifford, Cyberchase, Work It Out Wombats, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Donkey Hodie and Carl the Collector to name a few. Many people depend on PBS, and PBS Kids for educational programs and content for kids and adults alike. It is free to access, no cable or streaming service required and no commercials. No other cable or streaming service has good educational programs and content as good as PBS and PBS Kids. It deserves to stay for years to come.