Seeking to block funding for public media, the US Department of Education has eliminated a federal grant that supports PBS Kids programming nationwide and has funded literacy initiatives sponsored by VPM Media Corporation at Richmond and Petersburg preschools.
VPM President and CEO Jayme Swain announced the Ready to Learn grant’s termination on Monday.
The department has held a competition for Ready to Learn funding every five years since 1995, with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PBS winning grants in every cycle. According to press releases, VPM has been part of CPB’s 2020–25 cohort — and was awarded at least $160,000 across 2022 and 2023 to develop "Learning Neighborhoods" and early learning resources.
In total, CPB and PBS have received over $200 million in Ready to Learn grants over the last two five-year cycles, according to Education Department data. In a statement released Tuesday, CPB President and CEO Patricia Harrison said the cuts will affect programs at 44 public media stations across 28 states and the District of Columbia.
“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,” Harrison said. “Ready To Learn has received strong bipartisan support from Congress and every Administration for the last 30 years because of the programs’ proven educational value in advancing early learning skills for all children."
She added: "We will work with Congress and the Administration to preserve funding for this essential program.”
In response to emailed questions from VPM News, 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 an email urging VPM supporters to contact their congressional representatives, Swain said the decision is one of several recent government actions taken against public media.
In addition to canceling the Ready to Learn grants, President Donald Trump has submitted a fiscal 2026 budget request to Congress that would eliminate all federal funding for CPB and asked lawmakers to rescind previously approved money for public media. (Virginia’s fiscal year runs July 1–June 30; the federal fiscal runs Oct. 1–Sept. 30.)
“Together, these threats jeopardize the federal funding – only about $1.60 per person each year – that sustains the entire public media system,” Swain wrote. “Eliminating federal funding would cut $1.5 million dollars from VPM’s annual budget, forcing hard choices about our local programming and services.”
The Ready to Learn grant in its three decades has been a vehicle for the production of education-focused cartoons and television shows. Congress added the grant program in legislation intended to improve school readiness and education in low-income communities. In its first iteration, the grant helped popularize kids shows like Dragon Tales and Between the Lions.
While those shows were designed with a focus on literacy and lessons about emotional regulation, newer programs from the last decade such as Work It Out Wombats! and Ready Jet Go! expanded the cartoon curriculum to include critical thinking skills and scientific inquiry.
The VPM Media Corp. spokesperson said there will be an impact on PBS Kids programming but that the affected grant for VPM was specifically for local family engagement.
VPM in 2023 partnered with Excellence in Children’s Early Language and Literacy (ExCELL) to create the Learning Neighborhoods program. Events typically include reading activities with parents and children and the distribution of food, educational games and parenting tips. Supported by the Ready to Learn grant, the program 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 spokesperson confirmed that VPM Media Corp. had put the Learning Neighborhoods project on hold while it determines whether there is a path to continue the program: “We remain 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.”
Ready To Learn content reached more than 1.8 billion video streams and 10.2 million television viewers in the most recent fiscal year, according to CPB's statement.
Disclosure: VPM Media Corp. is the FCC license holder of VPM News, which operates as 88.9 FM in Richmond, 89.1 FM in the Northern Neck (Heathsville) and 90.1 FM in Southside Virginia (Chase City).
As a newsroom, VPM News maintains editorial independence — this article went through our usual fact-checking and editing process. Station leadership did not know interview questions ahead of time, and they did not view this article prior to publication.
Questions about this article and VPM News’ overall editorial policy should be directed to Managing Editor Dawnthea M. Price Lisco and News Director Elliott Robinson.