Update: May 6, 2025

CPB Statement on U.S. Department of Education Terminating Ready To Learn Grant

 WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 6, 2025) – On Friday night, the U.S. Department of Education notified the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) that its 2020-2025 Ready To Learn grant is terminated, effective immediately. On Sunday, CPB informed PBS and 44 public media stations in 28 states and the District of Columbia that receive Ready To Learn grants to stop work immediately, pausing the program in rural and urban communities throughout the country.

 “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,” said Patricia Harrison, President and CEO of CPB. “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. We will work with Congress and the Administration to preserve funding for this essential program.”

The Ready To Learn Program has funded the development of multiplatform educational properties such as “Lyla in the Loop” and “Work It Out Wombats!” 

While WCMU Public Media is not a current local recipient of Ready to Learn funding, every local station, family and child will lose out on future educational programming. The U.S. Department of Education has held the Ready To Learn Programming grant competition every five years since 1995, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PBS have won grants in every cycle. The 2020-2025 cycle expires on September 30, with local station recipients receiving notice of termination effective May 2, 2025.

You can learn more about federal funding and how you can support public media at ProtectMyPublicMedia.org.

 Update: May 2, 2025

Last night, President Trump signed an executive order titled Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media. The order instructs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to prohibit both direct and indirect federal funding to National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).

What we believe the order does—and doesn’t—do:

-It targets federal dollars only. Private donations, foundation grants, corporate sponsorships, and member support continue to be the foundation of WCMU Public Media's near and long-term sustainability. (This means YOU keep us going strong!)

-It leaves public media's overall congressional appropriation unchanged—at least for now. How any federal funds are reallocated after removing NPR and PBS is not yet defined but is sure to have significant impacts on WCMU and all local public media organizations who rely on these national-to-local partnerships to provide some of the content you know and love.

-It does not close local public media stations. However, because most stations rely on federal funding through Community Service Grants to pay for infrastructure, emergency‐alert services, and local journalism, the financial ripple effects could be significant, especially for stations like WCMU who serve more rural communities.

What is WCMU doing about this?

1. Continued Assessment & Planning – We are working with CPB, PBS, NPR, APTS and our sister stations in Michigan and across the country to better understand the funding mechanics once new federal grant rules are issued.

2. Advocacy – WCMU will continue working to protect the bipartisan support that exists for public media and will keep Michigan’s congressional delegation informed about how potential cuts would most affect rural transmitters, children’s programming, and emergency‐alert capacity.

3. Transparency – As soon as we have clarity on CPB’s reallocation plan or any legal challenges to the executive order, we will share updates on our website and through ongoing email communication. As you likely know, the actions coming out of DC are fluid and can change daily. We pledge not to overwhelm you with information, but to ensure you have substantive updates along the way as things unfold.

4. Diversifying revenue – We have accelerated initiatives to grow membership and increase community philanthropy, business partnerships, and digital revenue so that critical services never hinge on a single funding source.

How you can help right now:

1. Stay informed. Bookmark our Federal Funding page for running updates and background context.

2. Make your voice heard. If you value free, public‐service media, visit Protect My Public Media to share your story.

3. Support our work with a donation today. The surest way to safeguard fact-based journalism, cultural exploration through music and art, and educational programming is through your personal investment in WCMU Public Media now.

WCMU has served central and northern Michigan and beyond for nearly six decades, through changing technologies and political climates alike. This executive order presents real challenges, but our commitment to providing all Michiganders with trusted local content and experiences, opportunities for lifelong learning, and deep community connections is unwavering. We will continue to stand with—and report to—the people of Michigan, ensuring that everyone is seen, heard, valued, and informed.

Thank you for standing with us. We need and appreciate you, always.

There has been a great deal of discussion recently around funding for public media. In fact, a rescission package could be delivered as soon as this week (the week of 4/21/2025) to Congress that if approved could eliminate federal funding for public media station’s like WCMU. The House and Senate will then have a 45-day window to approve, amend, or turn down the package. We’ll have more clarification once the rescission package has been released, but reports suggest it could claw back funding for fiscal years 2026 and 2027 already approved through the two-year advanced appropriation. WCMU would see a loss of more than $3 million in federal funding, with no options for future federal funding. 

You can stay informed about the state of federal funding and how you can help through ProtectMyPublicMedia.org.

WCMU receives funding from several sources including listeners and viewers like you. We certainly thank you for your continued investment in the important work we do.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) was formed by the Public Broadcasting Act, which was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on November 7, 1967. The initial appropriation was for $5 million. 

On May 1, 1969, Fred Rogers spoke before Congress at a time when President Richard Nixon sought to cut funding for PBS from $20 million to $10 million. Rogers’ calm, impassioned plea for the sake of the children touched by his program, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, secured the full $20 million for public television and remains a powerful reminder of the impact felt by listeners and viewers of public media today.

CPB’s two-year advance appropriation dates to 1975. The Ford Administration had proposed appropriating funding to CPB for five years automatically upon approval of a reauthorization bill, and the two-year advance appropriation was a bipartisan, bicameral compromise.

Long-range financing has been important to public broadcasting from the very beginning. There are three key reasons why Congress commits funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) two years in advance. 

1. It insulates CPB from politically motivated interference with programming;
2. Allows public media stations to use this commitment of federal dollars to leverage critical investments from state and local governments, universities, businesses, foundations — and most importantly, their viewers and listeners; and
3. Provides adequate lead time for the production of major programming.

Overall, roughly $1.60 per American per year funds public media in the U.S.

This amounts to less than one-hundredth of one percent of the federal budget. More than 70% of the funds distributed by CPB go to stations like WCMU in the form of Community Service Grants. 

CPB funding amounts to a little more than 19% of WCMU’s revenue.

While we remain nimble on the funding front and are actively working to identify additional sources of support, the loss of federal funding would have a large impact on our ability to do the work you’ve come to expect from us every day.

For many of the communities we serve, WCMU is the only remaining locally owned and operated media outlet available. We file reports, share unique stories, select music and host events with you in mind. The staff of WCMU calls Michigan home, just like you do, and we have a vested interest in seeing our communities succeed. 

WCMU Public Media is proud of the community-based programming we produce, telling the stories of central and northern Michigan. 

WCMU Public Radio ethically reports on topics of community interest including PFAs contamination and remediation efforts, the status of the Line 5 pipeline, broadband access through our rural communities, agri-business, invasive species, tourism, affordable housing access, the proposed Gotion plant, and so many more stories often of unique interest to our Michigan audience.

WCMU Public Radio hosts have been honored in recent years to emcee the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce State of the Community events.

WCMU Public Television launched the new series Pressing Matters in 2024. The quarterly series has explored the use of AI in the classroom, water quality, invasive species, a renewed interest in vocational education, and recycling efforts across our communities. Other local productions include the regional Emmy Award winning Destination Michigan highlighting the unique people and places that define our region. Ask the DNR gives our viewers the chance to ask their questions of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

WCMU has partnered with Independent Lens to share documentary films at community events across central and northern Michigan. Earlier this year we partnered with community libraries in Alpena, Traverse City, Rogers City, Harbor Springs and Mount Pleasant to share the film Free for All: The Public Library. These events bring the community together and foster rich conversation.

Music brings us all together, whether it is through Austin City Limits, WCMU Classical, Great Performances or locally hosted favorites like Homespun, Destination Out and The Juke Joint. WCMU spotlights the music that lifts your mood and reminds us of our humanity.

WCMU is excited to host a local stop of the national series Antiques Roadshow July 1 in Charlevoix. We are teaming with the other public television stations across the state to highlight the people and antiquities of northwest lower Michigan.

WCMU Public Media offers free, Michigan state standards-aligned educational content created specifically for our communities. We have partnered with other public television stations in the state to broadcast the Michigan Learning Channel, which utilizes participating station produced content and PBSKids materials to bolster education efforts in the state. MLC was born out of the disruption brought on by the COVID-19 outbreak, and continues in the effort to support children, guardians and educators making up ground lost during the pandemic. WCMU connects this material with parents, caregivers, teachers, and homeschooling families to make these teaching resources widely accessible in support of the specific educational goals of each student and their family. 

Quiz Central, WCMU Public Television’s academic quiz show, has hosted thousands of Michigan’s best and brightest students through its 20^th season.

WCMU is itself a learning lab for the aspiring student journalists and broadcasters we employ from Central Michigan University. This includes a successful summer internship in partnership with community newspapers like the Traverse City Record Eagle and Alpena News.

WCMU Public Radio is a critical source of emergency information for central and northern Michigan. As part of Michigan’s Statewide Emergency Alert System (EAS) Plan, WCMU is designated as a State Relay Station, meaning we monitor national and state-level emergency messages and ensure they reach listeners across the region. Broadcasters from mid-Michigan to the U.S.-Canada border rely on WCMU’s network of stations to share these vital, often life-saving alerts with their audiences. In addition, WCMU serves as a Local Primary Station for Central Michigan, making it the go-to source for emergency alerts in the area. 

From July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024, WCMU sent a total of 130 emergency alerts, including 108 Severe Thunderstorm Warnings, 14 Tornado Warnings, 6 Flash Flood Warnings and 2 Child Abduction Emergencies. 

WCMU has relayed life-saving information, like when flood waters swept through the communities of Edenville, Sanford and Midland on May 19, 2020. WCMU’s television crew followed up with the residents of Sanford as they cleaned and rebuilt their community through The Sanford Voices Project. And the WCMU News team continues to follow the efforts to repair the Edenville and Sanford dams to this day.

WCMU played a similar role alerting citizens of Gaylord about a tornado that touched down May 20, 2022. WCMU was recognized with a Regional Edward R. Murrow award for its Breaking News coverage of the EF3 tornado and its aftermath.

There’s never been a better time to show your commitment to public media with your investment today. Donate now to make this vital work for your community possible. (Donate Button)

Remember, you can stay informed about federal funding and WCMU’s ability to continue the work you rely on every day at ProtectMyPublicMedia.org.

Public Media ranks right up there with the most effective public/private partnerships the country has ever known. Thank you for your investment in WCMU!