VPM potentially losing funding due to new executive order

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Virginia Press Media (VPM) President and CEO Jayme Swain stated in an announcement on Monday, May 5, that the Ready to Learn Grant was terminated.

This comes after an executive order signed by President Donald Trump, which aims to cut federal funding for NPR and PBS by no longer allowing taxpayer funds through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).

According to the U.S. Department of Education, in total, CPB and PBS have received over $200 million in Ready to Learn grants over the last two five-year cycles.

VPM Media Corp. said that "CPB notified the organization Sunday night that the department had terminated the grant effective Friday, May 2. VPM was awarded $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."

In 2023, VPM partnered with ExCELL to create the Learning Neighborhoods Program, which typically included reading activities with parents and children, food distribution, educational games and tips.

The program is supported by the Ready to Learn Grant and has served families at Petersburg's Westview Early Childhood Center and Summer Hill, Martin Luther King Jr. and J.H. Blackwell preschools in Richmond.

The director of ExCELL, Cynthia Hutchinson, said, “The pandemic highlighted education inequities and demonstrated the need for change and innovation.”

Hutchinson continued by saying, “The creation of Learning Neighborhoods promotes the idea that children benefit more when they and their families engage in a comprehensive array of family services.”

President Trump has also submitted a fiscal 2026 budget request to Congress that would eliminate all federal funding for CPB and asked lawmakers to cut previous funds for public media.

“Eliminating federal funding would cut $1.5 million dollars from VPM’s annual budget, forcing hard choices about our local programming and services," Swain said.

According to VPM, Congress added the Ready to Learn Grant program in legislation to improve school readiness and education in low-income communities.

A VPM spokesperson said that PBS Kids programming will be impacted, but that the affected grant for VPM was specifically for local family engagement.

The spokesperson also stated that VPM remains "committed to engaging with families who depend on vital VPM and PBS KIDS resources and hope we can find a path forward to continuing this important, impactful work in partnership with ExCELL, Richmond Public Schools and Petersburg Early Learning Center.”